Erdogan has a plan to wipe out millions of dogs, but the opposition has another one to save them

Last Sunday, thousands of people protested in the streets of Istanbul against the law passed by the Grand National Assembly (the Turkish Parliament) in July, at the proposal of President AKP’s Justice and Development Party. Recep Tayyip Erdoğanto get millions of homeless dogs off the country’s streets. On paper, the law says local governments will have to take in animals in shelters, spay or neuter them, and vaccinate them, in order to put them up for adoption. But there are very few shelters, 322, and they only have room for about 100,000 dogs, a far cry from the estimated four million on the country’s streets.

The opposition and various animal protection activist groups have already called this initiative a ‘slaughter law’. Several protest signs in Istanbul said that “Shelters are extermination camps”and activists claim that many animals have already been killed and buried in ditches. The Humane Society International organization condemns, in this regard, “all forms of cruelty against stray animals.” Cats were also to be affected by the law. But popular pressure prevented this from happening.

The opposition has announced that it will try to change the legislation in the Supreme Court. Many Turks see stray animals as a symbol of peace.

In fact, local governments led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) have stated that they will refuse to comply with the new law. However, The National He explains that failure by mayors to comply can lead to sentences of up to two years in prison.

Some organisations, however, are promoting Erdogan’s measure. Murat Pinar founded an association after his 9-year-old daughter Mahra was run over by a truck and died while fleeing from a pack of dogs, he explains. The NationalArticles on their website explain that they deal with “dog attacks, children torn to pieces, people hit by cars while fleeing from dogs, and people killed by dogs” on a daily basis.

Official figures provided by the government indicate that stray dogs have contributed to 55 deaths, more than 5,000 injuries and 3,500 traffic accidents in recent years. But according to Humane Society International, Erdogan’s initiative is “neither humane nor effective.”