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Turkey’s parliament has passed a law to capture stray dogs and place them in shelters, despite protests from animal rights activists. The opposition has pledged to appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court. Reporting Reuters.
275 deputies voted in favor of the document, while 224 voted against. The law was drafted by the ruling Justice and Development Party.
According to the agency, there are about four million stray dogs in Turkey. Under the new rules, dogs with aggressive behavior or incurable diseases will be euthanized. Opponents of the law argue it will lead to an increase in dog euthanasia.
“The draft law is a clear violation of the constitution and does not protect the right to life,” said Özgur Özer, leader of the opposition People’s Republic of Turkey party. According to him, the city government does not have enough funds to take so many dogs off the streets.
He added: “We are doing more than what is required of us in terms of building more shelters, vaccinations, neutering and ‘adoptions’ but the powers that the municipality has cannot fully shoulder this burden.”
According to information contained in the law, there are currently 322 animal shelters in the country, housing 105,000 dogs. Reuters writes that this is far less than what is needed to reduce the number of homeless animals.
The law requires all municipalities to spend at least 0.3% of their annual budgets on animal rehabilitation and building or renovating shelters by the end of 2028. Municipal employees who fail to perform their duties will be sentenced to six months to two years in prison, and administrative fines for abandoning a pet will increase from 2,000 lira ($60) to 60,000 lira ($1,800), he said. Clarified Anadolu Agency.
Protests against the law have taken place in cities across Turkey over the past few weeks, with demonstrators holding signs reading “You can’t kill them” and “Abolish the law”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who now must sign the law into law, supported the document, saying the country had a “homeless dog problem”. wrote Associated Press.
Officials deny the law will lead to mass dog shootings. Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tonci said last week that anyone who kills stray animals “without reason” will be punished.
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