‘Massacre law’ in Turkey threatens street dogs
In Turkey, a lot of dogs live on the street. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t loved . Many residents play with them, cuddle them , and leave food for them outside. Residents of Istanbul, Ankara, and other cities feel a special connection to the dogs that live in their neighborhoods . Small dog houses are common sights in city parks. For the most part, the dogs are well-behaved . Tourists take pictures with them.
City governments sterilize dogs and give them vaccinations for rabies —and then return them to where they were found. That way, the street dogs can get the shots and sterilization they need. Abandoned dogs don’t have to live in shelters . The population can enjoy the dogs’ company . Everyone’s happy.
Well, not everyone. A lot of Turkish residents don’t like street dogs—or, it’s more accurate to say, they don’t like that dogs live outside, on the street.
Dogs have been blamed for causing traffic accidents ; for attacking people , including children; and for spreading disease . The founder of an activist group said his nine-year-old daughter was running away from two dogs when she was hit by a truck. She died weeks later. Others are uncomfortable and afraid when packs of dogs chase their cars and roam the streets .
What’s more , the current system works better in theory than in practice . Not all dogs are sterilized; not all towns and cities have the resources to give them vaccinations . Many places don’t have any shelters for dogs that are sick or that pose a threat to humans . In many areas, dogs outside don’t have a reliable source of food ; that can make them aggressive .
Dogs also figure in the secular-religious divide in Turkey: devout Muslims consider dogs to be unclean , while more secular residents are comfortable living with them.
Some say that street dogs hurt Turkey’s international reputation . No other developed country has so many stray animals roaming its streets . If Turkey wants to further grow into a rich country, the argument goes , it needs to get its street dogs under control .
And now the debate has intensified with a new law.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party , the AK, proposed a law that would round up stray dogs , put them into shelters , and put them up for adoption . Under the AK’s proposal, any animals not adopted within thirty days of being placed into a shelter would have to be euthanized . That, according to the government’s logic, would free up more space in shelters so the system could repeat itself until all dogs were off the street.
In a speech before Parliament, the president tried to calm opponents’ nerves . If dogs are adopted within 30 days of being placed in a shelter, he coolly said, then there would be no need to go to the “next step.”
People understood what he meant by “the next step:” euthanasia . And this caused widespread protests , and not just among animal rights activists . Many Turks are genuinely afraid that the new law will result in mass killing of dogs . The shelter system isn’t very big and there isn’t a strong culture of formally adopting dogs from shelters. The fear is that most dogs pulled off the street won’t find a permanent home and will have to be killed, under this proposed law.
Few Turks want mass euthanasia of dogs. But most people aren’t fully comfortable with the status quo , either. A recent survey showed that 80 percent of Turks think that dogs should be removed from the streets, but only three percent said they should be euthanized.
In other words , the majority of people would probably support a gradual transition where street dogs are systematically sterilized and moved into adoptive homes .
So why didn’t the parliament propose something like that?
There is a more cynical interpretation of what’s going on—and it has to do with political power.
The current president’s party, the AK, has ruled Turkey at the national level since 2002. But opposition parties took over control of Turkey’s largest cities in the most recent election. And the opposition strongly opposes the law.
The national parliament proposed this law. But guess who would have to implement it? Guess who would have to put all these dogs in shelters? Guess who would have to actually put the dogs down , if they didn’t find homes? You guessed it: the local governments, the ones controlled by the opposition.
And if those local governments refuse to follow the new law , the city officials—the people in the opposition—can face up to two years in jail.
So it’s possible that this law really isn’t about dogs at all: it’s possible this is just a convenient excuse for the national ruling party to threaten its opponents and bully them into doing things against their values .
Turkey’s parliament passed the law in late July, albeit with modifications from the original proposal. The ruling party backed off its requirement to euthanize dogs after 30 days, so that’s not required under the law. But local governments are still required to collect dogs from the streets and put them in shelters or even euthanize them if they appear aggressive .
It’s not clear where the local governments will get the money to construct the shelters that are required. The opposition has said it won’t enforce laws in cities that it controls: they have labeled it the “massacre law” and have pledged to fight it in Turkey’s courts.
Jeff’s take
I’m a dog lover. I’m also not an animal rights activist . But—or maybe because of that—I don’t think the street is the place for a dog to live. I don’t think that’s the best life for the dogs or for the people around them. But rounding up dogs en masse and killing the ones that aren’t adopted in a short period of time is just cruel.
But I’m with the cynics. I don’t think this law is about the dogs at all. I think the dogs are just incidental to this whole thing, collateral damage . This is about raw power and the ruling party threatening and punishing its opponents .
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