A Turkish parliamentary committee has begun a tense debate on a bill aimed at controlling the country’s stray dog population, with animal rights activists fearing mass culling of the animals.
A Turkish parliamentary committee has begun a tense debate on a bill aimed at managing the country’s 4 million stray dogs, according to official figures. However, in 2022, the Agriculture Ministry was talking about 10 million.
The legislation, submitted to parliament by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party, pits those who advocate safer streets free of stray dogs against animal rights activists who are calling for the bill to be withdrawn.
The law would envisage their capture, sterilization and microchipping and then, if they are not adopted within 30 days, their euthanasia. Animal rights activists are calling for a real sterilization campaign, denouncing the lack of resources allocated to the problem.
The proposal, which was leaked to the media, sparked an outcry over fears it would lead to the mass extermination of unadopted dogs.
In June 2024, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Istanbul to oppose this bill.