A committee approves bill to regulate Turkey’s stray dog population, raising mass killing fears

Ankara, Türkiye — A Turkish parliamentary committee has passed a bill aimed at regulating the country’s large stray dog ​​population, a move that has raised concerns among animal rights advocates who fear many of the dogs will be killed or end up in abandoned and overcrowded shelters.

The 17-article bill, approved Tuesday night, has sparked conflict between animal rights groups and advocates for safer, feral dog-free streets.

It will now be presented to the full assembly for its final vote. However, it is unclear whether it will be addressed before parliament begins its summer recess.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling party proposed the bill, estimates that around 4 million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets and rural areas. Although many of these dogs are harmless, there has been an increase in the number of dogs congregating in packs. Numerous people have been attacked.

The proposed legislation requires municipalities to collect stray dogs and house them in shelters where they will be neutered and spayed. Dogs that are in pain, terminally ill, pose a health risk to humans, or are aggressive would be euthanized.

Municipalities would also be required to build dog shelters or improve the conditions of existing shelters by 2028.

Mayors who fail to fulfill their responsibilities in controlling stray dogs would face prison sentences of between six months and two years. Additionally, fines imposed on people who abandon their pets would be increased from 2,000 lira ($60) to 60,000 lira ($1,800).

Although the legislation was modified during the procedure to limit the conditions under which the dogs would be euthanized, animal rights activists fear that some municipalities will choose to kill the dogs under the pretext that they are sick, instead of allocating resources to house them.

The main opposition party, which won key municipalities in local elections in March, maintains that Erdogan’s government will use the bill to attack opposition mayors. The party also says the legislation makes no provision for funding shelters.

Murat Pinar, who heads an association that has campaigned for measures to keep streets safe from stray dogs, says at least 75 people, including 44 children, died as a result of attacks or traffic accidents caused by dogs since 2022, the year Her nine-year-old daughter Mahra was hit by a truck after fleeing from two aggressive dogs.

The “Safe Streets and Defense of the Right to Life Association” of Pinar calls for the removal of all strays from the streets and wants the legislation to be approved before the summer recess.

Parliament’s agriculture and rural affairs committee held three days of tense meetings, during which some NGO representatives were prevented from observing proceedings. On the first day of the debate last week, Mahra’s mother brandished her daughter’s shoe, claiming that opposition lawmakers prioritize the lives of dogs over those of children.

Meanwhile, activists gathered in parks demanding that the legislation they called the “massacre law” be withdrawn.

Existing regulations require that stray dogs be captured, neutered, spayed, and returned to the location where they were found. But the lack of implementation of those rules in recent years has caused the dog population to skyrocket, animal rights groups say. They maintain that proper implementation of existing regulations would be sufficient to control the population.