The Turkish parliament has approved several amendments to the “Animal Protection” law, including one that provides euthanasia for stray dogs that are terminally ill, pose a public health risk, or are too aggressive to be controlled. This is reported by various Turkish media, which say that the first 5 articles of the amendment proposal by the President’s AKP party Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been approved, while discussions on the remaining articles will continue in the afternoon.
Article 5 of the bill, which concerns euthanasia for stray dogs, has been the subject of strong criticism.rituals by animal rights groups, who have demonstrated in several Turkish cities in recent weeks, while the main opposition party CHP, which controls the country’s major cities including Istanbul, had declared that the mayors of this political force will not implement the law while the opposition motions calling for the removal of euthanasia from the measure were rejected and opposition deputies protested during the parliamentary session.
President Erdogan has repeatedly defended the proposed amendment, arguing that itAttacks on people by stray dogs have increased sharply and that in no developed country is there such a large population of street dogs, estimated at around 4 million animals. The ruling party has denied that the measure will lead to mass euthanasia. The other parts of the proposed law require municipalities to publish on a specific website photographs of animals found in shelters, offering the population the opportunity to adopt them.