Turkey passes ‘massacre law’ to remove millions of free-roaming dogs
The country’s parliament has approved a controversial new law to round up millions of free-roaming dogs and put them into shelters, with animal lovers and the main opposition party seeking to fight the legislation.
A new law to remove millions of free-roaming dogs from the streets of Turkey has been approved, leaving animal lovers fearing that many of the canines will be ‘massacred’ or neglected in cramped shelters.
The legislation was passed with 275 votes in favour and 224 against, despite thousands of people calling for the rejection of an article that would permit some free-roaming animals to be euthanized.
Protests took place in multiple cities across the world, including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, London, New York, and Amsterdam. Nearly 40,000 people signed a petition, and more than 100 organizations, including Species Unite, signed an open letter in opposition to the bill.
The bill has been slammed as the “massacre law” by opposition lawmakers, animal welfare groups and others.
Hundreds of people gathered in Istanbul's Sishane Square to deliver a strong message to the government: "Your massacre law is just a piece of paper for us," the organizers told the crowd. "We will write the law on the streets. Life and solidarity, not hatred and hostility, will win."
The new legislation, submitted to parliament by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, will require municipalities to round up free-roaming dogs and send them to shelters where they would be spayed and neutered. Dogs who are sick, show aggression, or are suspected of having rabies would be killed.
But critics of the bill say that this will lead to dogs being confined to cramped shelters which animal rights activists have denounced as ‘death camps,’ as well as the mass killing of many of the animals.
Turkey’s main opposition party announced that it would seek to cancel the legislation in the Supreme Court.
“You have made a law that is morally, conscientiously, and legally broken. You cannot wash your hands of blood,” stated Murat Emir, a senior deputy with the Republican People’s Party (CHP), who also questioned why healthy and non-aggressive animals were to be collected if there were no plans to euthanize them.
"The bill is clearly unconstitutional and does not defend the right to life," CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said after it passed, adding that municipalities had limited resources to deal with the task of taking so many dogs off the streets.
"We will do more than what is required of us in terms of building more shelters, vaccination, neutering and adoption, but it is not possible to completely fulfil this burden with the power that municipalities have," he added.
Despite having 1,403 municipalities, Turkey has only 322 animal shelters with a capacity for 105,000 dogs, according to the bill, which is far from sufficient to manage the number of free-roaming dogs.
The law also requires that all municipalities allocate at least 0.3% of their annual budget to animal rehabilitation services and the construction or improvement of shelters, with a deadline of 2028 to comply.
Why is Turkey cracking down on the free-roaming dog population?
There are an estimated four million free-roaming dogs in Turkey and the World Health Organisation classifies it as a “high-risk” country for rabies.
This bill was proposed following a report by the Safe Streets and Defence of the Right to Life Association, which advocates for removing all free-roaming dogs from the streets. The report claimed that 65 people have died in dog attacks since 2022.
Critics of the bill blame the authorities for the surging dog population, citing a lack of enforcement of existing legislation that mandates free-roaming dogs be captured, neutered or spayed, and then returned to their original location. They argue that proper enforcement of current regulations would be sufficient to control the dog population.
Additionally, they highlight that, despite the production and trade of dogs being a major contributor to population growth, the newly approved law does not prohibit breeding operations.
What’s the solution?
Doctor Murat Arslan, president of the Turkish Veterinary Medical Association, says that to “manage the animal population, street dogs needed to be collected, sterilized, given some vaccinations, and then released back to the street,” but warns that not every municipality had shelters or facilities where these operations could be carried out”, particularly in small municipalities where there is a lack of shelters and veterinarians.
Animal advocacy organizations argue that if the 1,403 municipalities spayed and neutered just four animals per day, the problem would be resolved within one year.
Species Unite has signed the open letter opposing the legislation and is urging our community to please sign and share this urgent petition, organized by the Animal Save Movement in collaboration with activists in Turkey and calling on the parliament to reverse the new law. You can find additional activism resources here.
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