'The Massacre Law': Why Turkey wants to cull 4 million stray dogs

In Turkey, a man’s best friend has become an enemy.

On Tuesday, the country approved a controversial bill that aims to regulate millions of stray dogs.

This comes despite massive protests against the law over the past few weeks, occasionally scuffling with police and carrying banners that read, “You cannot kill them,” and “Take back the massacre law.”

Animal lovers and advocates fear many canines would be killed or end up in neglected, overcrowded shelters.

But why is Turkey taking such stern action?

Let’s take a closer look.

New rules

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling AK Party proposed the bill, told legislators, “Although some people persistently ignore it, Turkey has a stray dog problem.”

More from Explainers

How ChatGPT is becoming everyone’s BFF and why that’s dangerous This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

According to The Associated Press, deputies in the Turkish Grand National Assembly approved the law after a tense, marathon overnight session as the government pushed to have it passed before the summer recess.

The bill was approved with 275 votes in favour and 225 against. The full assembly will have a final vote in the coming days.

Under the new rules, municipalities will have to collect stray dogs and house them in shelters, where they will be neutered and spayed.

As per the law, dogs in pain — those who are terminally ill, pose a health risk to humans or are aggressive would be euthanised.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

Ghaziabad woman dead, pilgrims attacked in bus… How Nepal’s Gen-Z protests turned into a living hell for Indian tourists

Were bodyguards involved in Charlie Kirk’s shooting? The many conspiracies surrounding the killing

The law requires all municipalities to spend at least 0.3 per cent of their annual budget on animal rehabilitation services and building or upgrading shelters, though they will be given until 2028 to do so, as per Reuters.

Mayors who fail to meet their responsibilities in controlling stray dogs would face imprisonment of six months to two years. Fines on people who abandon pets would be raised from 2,000 lira (~Rs 5,023) to 60,000 lira (~Rs 1,50,696).

The country’s well-known large stray cat population is not a focus of the bill.

Several leaders hailed the decision amid the criticism from opposition and animal advocates.

Ali Ozkaya, of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, described the bill as a “demand of the nation."

“This is not a ‘massacre’ law. This is an ‘adoption’ law,” Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told HaberTurk television in an interview.

The dog problem in Turkey

The Erdogan government estimates that around four million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets and rural areas.

Although many are harmless, a growing number are congregating in packs, and numerous people have been attacked in Istanbul and elsewhere.

Erdogan noted that stray dogs “attack children, adults, elderly people and other animals. They attack flocks of sheep and goats, they cause traffic accidents.”

According to the bill, there are currently 322 animal shelters in the country that can house 105,000 canines, which is significantly fewer than what would be required to house all of the strays.

Under the existing laws, stray dogs must be captured, neutered, and spayed before being taken back to their original location. However, animal rights organisations claim that the dog population has skyrocketed as a result of the failure to enforce those laws.

According to Murat Pinar, the leader of an organisation that advocates for laws protecting the public from stray dogs, since 2022 at least 75 people — 44 of them children — have died as a result of dog attacks or dog-related traffic accidents.

That’s the year his nine-year-old daughter, Mahra, was run over by a truck after she fled from two aggressive dogs, as per AP.

Adem Coskun, who said his grandson was bitten by a stray dog, welcomed the decision. “They should take the dogs (off the streets) and find them homes or put them under protection,” he said.

According to Reuters, residents of Turkish towns and cities often take care of street animals, putting out makeshift shelters, food and water for them.

The report cited one survey that showed less than three per cent of people supported putting them down, while nearly 80% were in favour of dogs being put in shelters.

Protests across the country

Thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past few weeks to protest against the law.

In Istanbul’s Sishane Square, hundreds gathered and issued a defiant message to the government.

“Your massacre law is just a piece of paper for us,” the organisers told the crowd. “We will write the law on the streets. Life and solidarity, not hatred and hostility, will win.”

Animal lovers in Ankara protested outside municipal offices.

Blowing whistles and jeers, a statement was issued, “We are warning the government again and again, stop the law. Do not commit this crime against this country.”

Protests organised by political parties and animal welfare groups were also held in cities across Europe, where there were warnings that the law could dissuade tourists from visiting Turkey.

Opposition, activists dub it ‘massacre law’

Opposition lawmakers, animal welfare groups and others have dubbed the bill the “massacre law.”

Animal rights activists are concerned that some municipalities might kill dogs on the pretext that they are ill, rather than allocate resources to shelter them.

“Since there are not enough places in the shelters — there are very few shelters in Turkey — a path has been opened for the killing (of strays). We animal rights activists know very well that this spells death,” said veterinarian Turkan Ceylan.

Ceylan maintained that the dogs are at risk of contracting diseases in shelters and in vehicles used to round up strays. “No animal that enters the shelter comes out healthy,” she said.

The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said it would appeal against the legislation in the Constitutional Court.

“The bill is clearly unconstitutional and does not defend the right to live,” CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said after it passed, adding that municipalities had limited resources to deal with the task of taking so many dogs off the streets.

“We will do more than what is required of us in terms of building more shelters, vaccination, neutering and adoption, but it is not possible to completely fulfil this burden with the power that municipalities have,” he added.

Others blamed the growth in the stray canine population on a failure to implement previous regulations, which required stray dogs to be caught, neutered, spayed and returned to where they were found.

The Humane Society International said in a statement that it had written to Erdogan to raise concerns that the law will cause “unnecessary suffering and death to countless animals in a short-term fix that won’t deliver a long-term solution.”

With inputs from agencies