Street Animal Regulation Passed by Parliament and Became Law

The 17-article “Bill on Amending the Animal Protection Law,” which includes regulations on street animals and has caused public outcry, was passed by the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) in the early hours and became law. The law will come into effect after being published in the Official Gazette. Following the vote, the Parliament went on recess until October 1.

Article 5 of the bill paves the way for the killing of stray dogs.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel stated that they will take the law to the Constitutional Court with a request for a stay of execution.

Answering questions from the press after the bill was passed, Özel said that the law is clearly unconstitutional, does not defend the right to life, and that they will evaluate the process with the Constitutional Court.

How was the Controversial Article 5 Arranged?

During discussions in the TBMM Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Affairs Commission, Article 5 was accepted with changes proposed by the AKP. The term “euthanasia” was removed from the bill text, but the way for killing stray dogs under the principles of the Veterinary Services Law remained open.

With the proposed changes, Article 5 was arranged as follows

“Measures specified in the third paragraph of Article 9 of the Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food, and Feed Law No. 5996 dated 11/6/2010 shall be applied to dogs taken to shelters that pose a danger to human and animal life and health, whose negative behaviors cannot be controlled, who have contagious or untreatable diseases, or whose ownership is prohibited.
Local governments are authorized to take the necessary administrative measures within the scope of the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals in the work and procedures related to stray dogs.”

Paragraph 3 of Law No. 5996 is as follows

“(3) Euthanasia of animals is prohibited. However,
a) In cases where animals suffer pain and distress or have diseases that have no chance of recovery,
b) For the prevention or eradication of an acute contagious animal disease or in cases posing a risk to human health,
c) In cases where behaviors pose a danger to human and animal life and health and negative behaviors cannot be controlled,
a decision for euthanasia can be made by a veterinarian. The euthanasia procedure is performed by or under the supervision of a veterinarian.”

With the new law, cat and dog owners are required to register their animals with digital identification methods by December 31, 2025; the concepts of “owned animal” and “stray animal” will be clearly defined.

Municipalities will be required to establish shelters and carry out “rehabilitation” procedures by December 31, 2028

Municipalities must allocate 0.5% of their final confirmed budget revenues as resources to care for stray animals until they are adopted. This rate will be 0.3% for metropolitan municipalities. For expenditures exceeding these rates, 40% will be transferred to the municipality by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. The amount to be transferred cannot exceed 40% of the rates in the article.