Euthanasia Is Not a Solution

1600s

The first removal movement against stray dogs started with the expulsion of dogs within the walls of Istanbul to other parts of the city in order to solve the problem of "stray (or wandering) dogs" in Istanbul.

1800s

The authorities tried several times to round up all the dogs in the city and drive them to a deserted island, but due to public resistance and pressure, these decisions could not be implemented and the dogs were brought back.

1910

Hayırsız Island Massacre

The mayor ordered the dogs to be rounded up. In order to “get rid” of the dogs, people were charged a fee for each life captured, and the dogs' tails were demanded as proof.

The rounded up dogs were first kept in cages outside Topkapı Palace and then taken to Sivri Island, now known as Hayırsız Ada.

Struggling to survive on the island with no shelter, the dogs struggled with hunger and thirst.

Hayırsız Island
is the grave for

80.000 dogs

1912

Ideas for the establishment of an animal protection association proliferated and eventually the Istanbul Himaye-i Hayvanat Cemiyeti was founded in 1912. After the establishment of the association, there was no major culling campaign against animals again.

However, the Himaye-i Hayvanat Cemiyeti (Society for the Protection of Animals) drifted away from its founding objectives over time and came to the point of promising death to animals without inflicting pain.

Exile

Extermination

1600s

The first removal movement against stray dogs started with the expulsion of dogs within the walls of Istanbul to other parts of the city in order to solve the problem of "stray (or wandering) dogs" in Istanbul.

2004

Law No. 5199 on the Protection of Animals was adopted, but this law is far from being an animal rights law. This law and others are anthropocentric “animal welfare/animal husbandry” laws that treat animals as commodities.

The law categorizes all crimes against animals as misdemeanors and only imposes fines. It is not sufficient to protect either animal rights or animals.

Furthermore, this law gives the main responsibility for the welfare and life of stray animals to local governments. Municipalities should sterilize stray animals and release them back to their habitats after they have received basic vaccinations, needs and treatment, if any.

However, interventions by local governments under the name of “collection” have never taken place in most municipalities, and those that have, have witnessed cases of displacement, violence, disease and death for stray dogs.

2024

When the municipalities failed to fulfill the duties assigned to them in 2004 and failed to protect the stray animal population, the Law No. 5199 was amended as a result of the increasing polarization in the society.

A new bill passed by the Parliament in August abolishes the “collect, vaccinate, sterilize and release” method. The new regulation stipulates that all dogs on the streets must be collected and kept in shelters until they are adopted and gives municipalities 4 years to take the necessary actions.

However, a problem arises here. The current shelter capacity in Turkey is around 100 thousand. It is neither organizationally nor economically feasible to increase this number to 4 million and keep animals in these shelters for years.

This regulation also:

includes an article stating that dogs that “pose a danger to the life and health of humans and animals, whose negative behavior cannot be controlled, who have an infectious disease or whose ownership is prohibited” may be killed by/supervised by a veterinarian.

The ambiguity in the phrase “animal whose negative behavior cannot be controlled” in this article means, according to many authorities, that animals can be killed directly.

Our concern is that local governments will take advantage of this ambiguity and instead of building shelters, they will turn the impossible task into euthanasia or culling. Euthanasia is an unsuccessful population control method and is not effective in the long run, as we have seen both in our geography and in many countries abroad. The likely outcome of this law is the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of living beings for nothing.

For this reason,

Yasayı Geri Çek

References and Quotations

Çankaya, H., Ekiz, C., & Şahin, N. (2024). Türkiye’de Hayvanların Korunması Politikası. Fiscaoeconomia, 8(2), 825-861. https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1434116
Akbulut, O., & Çobanoğlu, P. D. N. (2020). TÜRK HUKUKUNDA HAYVANLARIN KORUNMASINA İLİŞKİN YASAL MEVZUAT VE BU MEVZUATA GÖRE HAYVANLARIN HUKUKİ DURUMLARI. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi(36), 1-37.
Türkiye’de Sokak Köpeği Sorunu Nasıl çözülür? Evrim Ağacı. (n.d.). https://evrimagaci.org/turkiyede-sokak-kopegi-sorunu-nasil-cozulur-17769
BBC. (n.d.). Sokak Hayvanları Düzenlemesi Yürürlüğe Girdi: Kanun Neler getiriyor, Nasıl Uygulanacak?. BBC News Türkçe.
1910 Hayırsızada Toplu Sürgün ve Katliamı | HAYVAN HAKLARI TARİHİ | KÜTÜPHANE | HAYTAP - Hayvan Hakları Federasyonu. (n.d.). 1910 Hayırsızada Toplu Sürgün ve Katliamı: Hayvan Haklari tari̇hi̇: Kütüphane: Haytap - Hayvan hakları federasyonu. HAYTAP.

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yasayı geri çek

Euthanasia Is Not a Solution

1600s

The first removal movement against stray dogs started with the expulsion of dogs within the walls of Istanbul to other parts of the city in order to solve the problem of "stray (or wandering) dogs" in Istanbul.

1800s

The authorities tried several times to round up all the dogs in the city and drive them to a deserted island, but due to public resistance and pressure, these decisions could not be implemented and the dogs were brought back.

1910

Hayırsız Island Massacre

The mayor ordered the dogs to be rounded up. In order to “get rid” of the dogs, people were charged a fee for each life captured, and the dogs' tails were demanded as proof.

The rounded up dogs were first kept in cages outside Topkapı Palace and then taken to Sivri Island, now known as Hayırsız Ada.

Struggling to survive on the island with no shelter, the dogs struggled with hunger and thirst.

Hayırsız Island is the grave for

80.000 dogs

1912

Ideas for the establishment of an animal protection association proliferated and eventually the Istanbul Himaye-i Hayvanat Cemiyeti was founded in 1912. After the establishment of the association, there was no major culling campaign against animals again.

However, the Himaye-i Hayvanat Cemiyeti (Society for the Protection of Animals) drifted away from its founding objectives over time and came to the point of promising death to animals without inflicting pain.

Exile

Extermination

1600s

The first removal movement against stray dogs started with the expulsion of dogs within the walls of Istanbul to other parts of the city in order to solve the problem of "stray (or wandering) dogs" in Istanbul.

2004

Law No. 5199 on the Protection of Animals was adopted, but this law is far from being an animal rights law. This law and others are anthropocentric “animal welfare/animal husbandry” laws that treat animals as commodities.

The law categorizes all crimes against animals as misdemeanors and only imposes fines. It is not sufficient to protect either animal rights or animals.

Furthermore, this law gives the main responsibility for the welfare and life of stray animals to local governments. Municipalities should sterilize stray animals and release them back to their habitats after they have received basic vaccinations, needs and treatment, if any.

However, interventions by local governments under the name of “collection” have never taken place in most municipalities, and those that have, have witnessed cases of displacement, violence, disease and death for stray dogs.

2024

When the municipalities failed to fulfill the duties assigned to them in 2004 and failed to protect the stray animal population, the Law No. 5199 was amended as a result of the increasing polarization in the society.

However, a problem arises here. The current shelter capacity in Turkey is around 100 thousand. It is neither organizationally nor economically feasible to increase this number to 4 million and keep animals in these shelters for years.

This regulation also:

The ambiguity in the phrase “animal whose negative behavior cannot be controlled” in this article means, according to many authorities, that animals can be killed directly.

For this reason,

Yasayı Geri Çek

References and Quotations

Hayırsız Island
is the grave for