PETITION TARGET: Government Officials of Turkey
Drone footage captured staff at a municipal shelter in Turkey beating dogs to death with sticks, throwing them, and dragging them on the ground. At another municipal shelter, 37 dogs died in a single day, and some were even fed to zoo animals, advocates allege.
These allegations arise after dogs were found dead with their heads severed from their bodies in a mass grave in the capital city of Ankara late last year, according to Medya News. This horrific finding immediately followed passage of the disturbing “massacre law” — legislation recently upheld by the Turkish Constitutional Court despite widespread public opposition.
If the allegations are true, it would not be the first time municipal shelter workers engaged in extreme animal cruelty. In 2022 two shelter employees were arrested for strangling and fatally beating a dog with a shovel, but released shortly afterwards, with no legal ramifications for their actions.
Turkey’s “Massacre Law,” Law No. 7527, requires authorities to round up all community dogs and place them into shelters and to put down any ill or aggressive dogs, as well as dogs that are legally banned from being adopted, such as pit bulls. At the time of the law’s passage there were an estimated 4 million dogs in the streets of Turkey, and only 322 shelters, with a capacity for 105,000 dogs, according to the Week.
Dogs in a Turkey Shelter (Courtesy of Komşunum Nobetteyim)
Some shelter workers warned that sending more animals to these facilities could be considered a ‘death sentence’, according to the Guardian. With no government reporting of how many dogs have been rounded up or where they are currently located, it is impossible to know just how many dogs have met that fate.
Collection efforts have ramped up in recent months, with Turkey’s Interior Minister vowing to strictly enforce this “massacre law” and the Governor of Istanbul ordering officials to round up community dogs citywide as the school year approaches. With such limited shelter capacity and violent behavior towards community animals on the rise, local advocates fear the worst.
The public deserves to know what is happening to Turkey’s community dogs and any individuals abusing these emotionally sentient beings need to be brought to justice. No dog deserves to be beaten to death, fed to zoo animals, or decapitated.
Sign and share our petition demanding a thorough investigation into municipal shelter abuse allegations and full transparency from government officials to prevent continued violence against innocent animals.
