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Turkiye passes law to get stray dogs off the streets and into shelters
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Turkiye passes law to get stray dogs off the streets and into shelters

Reuters

ANKARA—Turkiye’s parliament on Tuesday approved a law that aims to round up millions of stray dogs and put them into shelters, a plan that has alarmed animal lovers who say a mass neutering campaign would be a better solution.

Under the legislation, proposed by the President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK party, municipalities would have to get the strays off the streets and into shelters. Any dogs showing aggressive behavior or that have untreatable diseases will be put down.

Under previous legislation, municipalities have to neuter and vaccinate all street dogs and leave them where they were found following treatment.

FILE PHOTO: An animal rights activist shouts slogans during a rally to protest against a bill drafted by the government that aims to remove stray dogs off the country’s streets, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 27, 2024. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Garip, a stray dog, who has been taken care by the shopkeepers at a local market, is pictured in Istanbul, Turkey, July 23, 2024. Turkey’s ruling party presented a bill to parliament that aims to round up millions of stray dogs, a plan that has alarmed animal lovers who say a mass neutering campaign would be a better solution than locking dogs up in shelters. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya

The population of street dogs in Turkey is estimated to be 4 million, and municipalities have neutered around 2.5 million in the past 20 years, according to the draft bill. The animals are often taken care of by neighborhood residents and treated like pets.

Budget for shelters

There are currently 322 animal shelters with a capacity for 105,000 dogs, according to the bill.

The law also requires all municipalities to spend at least 0.3 percent of their annual budget on animal rehabilitation services and building shelters.

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Municipalities will be given time until 2028 to build new shelters and improve current shelters, the law says.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past few weeks to protest against the law, occasionally scuffling with police. —Reuters


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