01/08/2024
Turkey's new stray dog law has been passed.
The new law sends a clear message to street dogs and to those who look after them saying: "you're on your own, the government doesn't care about you". The new law is essentially a free pass for anyone wanting to create problems for street dogs. And there are many in Turkey who have been waiting for any opportunity to do so.
The new law abandons the 'trap-neuter-release' system that Turkey has (officially) been using up until now, and assigns sole responsibility for all stray dogs to the government shelters, making the government shelter a stray dog's only rightful place to live. Street dogs are to be rounded up and brought to government shelters, where they will stay until they are adopted or until they die (which will be the case for the majority of the dogs).
Making government shelters responsible for street dogs may not sound like a drastic move, but it has serious consequences for both stray dogs, and for those who look after them.
By saying that all stray dogs belong to the government shelter, the law takes away dogs' right to live on the streets, and as a consequence, animal lovers' right to look after dogs on the streets. Although it doesn't explicitly ban people from feeding street dogs, it does take away peoples' legal right to do so. And animal lovers in Turkey desperately need their right to do so to be enforced by law.
Every day, animal lovers face sabotage and torment from those who don't like animals. Lovingly made dog and cat houses are destroyed, food and water bowls are emptied or filled with rubbish, people are shouted at and harassed. I personally have been shouted at and threatened many times, and have even had people try to report me to the police, purely for feeding a dog on the pavement. Being shouted at and argued with in a language that isn't your mother tongue is extremely intimidating, but up until now, I have always felt confident knowing I had the law on my side. The police have always informed these people that dogs have the right to live on the streets, and people have the legal right to feed those dogs. However, this legal protection has now been taken away, exposing both dogs and animal lovers to harassment, intimidation and potentially even violence.
The reality of government shelters in Turkey:
Why is everyone in Turkey so upset about dogs being sent to government shelters? Because with a few exceptions, these shelters are the worst place imaginable for dogs. Conditions are extremely poor, too many dogs are crammed into not enough kennels, dogs aren't fed properly, they don't have access to enough water, and fights break out constantly. There are no quarantine policies and the kennels are only cleaned with water, if at all, meaning viruses are rampant. The dogs receive little to no medical care.
Many do not make it out alive.
Shelter workers aren't necessarily animal lovers. They are simply government workers who were assigned to work in the shelter. They have not chosen to work in the shelter, in fact in many places working in the shelter is seen as one of the most undesirable assignments you can get. As a result, shelter workers have no knowledge of or experience with looking after dogs. Some don't like dogs, or are scared of them. Many just don't care.
Government shelters aren't overseen by any supervising body. No national animal protection agencies exist. Most shelters refuse to work with charities or volunteers (not wanting anyone to see what happens inside). The municipalities do not supervise what happens in the shelter. The shelters are not held accountable for what goes on inside. Everything happens behind closed doors.
Government shelters are already terrible places for dogs, but things are about to get even worse..
What is going to happen under the new law?
In the current system, dogs that manage to survive life in the shelter are neutered and returned to the streets to live in relative freedom. The new law changes this. Dogs are no longer allowed to return to the streets, and must stay in the shelter until they are adopted or until they die. With the government mandate for all stray dogs to be rounded up off the streets, more and more dogs will start streaming in to the already unsustainable shelter conditions. The shelters will get more and more crowded, leading to more and more problems.
According to one estimate, the current capacity of all government shelters in Turkey combined is 105,000 dogs. It is estimated that there are 4 million stray dogs in Turkey. There is no way that the shelters will be able to cope with the influx of new dogs. Municipalities have been given 4 years to build new, bigger shelters, but whether this will actually happen remains to be seen.
As conditions in the shelters get more and more cramped, this will lead to more and more casualties. Dogs are already dying of starvation in shelters, this will only increase. They won't have access to enough water or shelter from the burning summer sun or the cold winter weather. Diseases will spread even more quickly. Starving, and in cramped conditions, dogs will start to fight and kill each other. Filling the already over-capacity shelters with more and more dogs can only lead to lots of death.
The new law also gives the shelters the power to euthanise any sick or 'frail' dogs, and dogs that are perceived as aggressive. But with no-one supervising what happens in the shelter, and no-one checking how the dogs are being selected and evaluated for euthanasia, this gives shelter workers (again, many of whom aren't animal lovers) free reign to euthanise whichever dogs they want. We know that the euthanisation won't be carried out humanely or professionally, and the dogs will suffer unnecessarily.
Considering the terrible conditions, most of the dogs in Turkish shelters are sick. But as medical care isn't carried out in the shelters, the most vulnerable dogs will not get a chance to be treated and recover before they are euthanised. I have lost count of the amount of times I have taken a half-dead dog out of a government shelter, so weak they could barely even stand anymore, only to have that dog transform into a lively, energetic dog after just a few days of antibiotics or a few proper meals. So many of the sick and frail shelters dogs can easily be treated, but they won't get this opportunity, or the chance to live, in the new system, where euthanasia is the simplest answer to the ongoing problem of shelter over-capacity.
Parliament members took a selfie of themselves happily smiling yesterday after passing the new law, which is going to lead to immense suffering, many unnecessary deaths, and is going to rob millions of dogs of a fair chance of rescue and survival.
All we can do now is rescue as many as we can, and we can only rescue as many dogs as we are able to find homes for. Please consider opening your home to a Turkish dog, you truly will be saving a life!
