Türkiye wants to euthanize homeless dogs that have not been adopted

The rationale for this proposal is to reduce the country's problems with attacks and traffic accidents involving dogs. According to assessments by the Turkish authorities, there are about four million homeless dogs in the country, Reuters reported. Between 2019 and 2023, about fifty people were said to have died and more than 5,000 were injured in traffic accidents involving animals.

In addition, the World Health Organization classifies Turkey as a high-risk country for rabies, and the number of dangerous contacts with homeless animals has nearly doubled between 2018 and 2022.

In addition to dogs And which are not adopted after 30 days, the government also wants to cull dogs that are judged to be “aggressive or threatening” when caught.

Both the opposition and animal rights activists opposed the draft law, which is expected to be presented to Parliament in the coming days. The country's authorities are also accused of letting problems get out of control over the past 20 years, when the number of abandoned dogs increased dramatically.

– They say they will collect dogs from the street, but there is no capacity to take them all, animal rights activist Nilgul Sayar told Reuters.

The Turkish Veterinary Association also views the proposal and says that the intended method lacks scientific support and that no specialized bodies have been consulted.

On Wednesday he tried President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calmed his critics:

-We want all animals taken to dog shelters to be adopted. He says in Parliament: If we can achieve this, there is no reason for the second step.

According to the Turkish government, about 260,000 homeless dogs have been sterilized in the past five years, but to solve the problem, up to 70 percent of dogs must be sterilized, according to Turkish Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. Language newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.