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Turkey approves law to remove stray dogs from streets. Opposition vows to fight the 'massacre law'

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Turkey approves law to remove stray dogs from streets. Opposition vows to fight the 'massacre law'
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Turkey approves law to remove stray dogs from streets. Opposition vows to fight the 'massacre law'

2024-07-30 23:39 Last Updated At:23:40

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Legislators approved Tuesday a new law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from Turkey's streets that animal lovers fear will lead to many of the dogs being killed or ending up in neglected, overcrowded shelters.

Some critics also argue that the law will be used to target the opposition, which made huge gains in the country's latest local elections. The legislation includes penalties for mayors who fail to carry out its provisions and the main opposition party has pledged not to implement the law.

Deputies in the Turkish Grand National Assembly approved the legislation following a tense, marathon overnight session as the government pushed to have it passed before the summer recess. Demonstrations in cities across Turkey saw thousands call for the scrapping of an article that would allow some stray animals to be euthanized. Opposition lawmakers, animal welfare groups and others have dubbed the bill the “massacre law.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who now needs to sign the measure into law, thanked his ruling party and allied parties' legislators who voted in favor of the law following an “intense and tiring” session.

“Despite the opposition's provocations and campaigns based on lies and distortions, the National Assembly once again listened to the people, refusing to ignore the cries of the silent majority," he said.

The government estimates that around 4 million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets and rural areas. Although many are harmless, a growing number are congregating in packs, and several people have been attacked. The country’s large stray cat population is not a focus of the bill.

In Istanbul’s Sishane Square, hundreds gathered and issued a defiant message to the government. “Your massacre law is just a piece of paper for us,” the organizers told the crowd. “We will write the law on the streets. Life and solidarity, not hatred and hostility, will win.”

Animal lovers in the capital Ankara protested outside municipal offices. To whistles and jeers, a statement was read: “We are warning the government again and again, stop the law. Do not commit this crime against this country.”

Protests organized by political parties and animal welfare groups were also held in cities across Europe, where there were warnings the law could dissuade tourists from visiting Turkey.

Turkey's main opposition party said it would seek its cancellation at the country's Supreme Court.

“You have made a law that is morally, conscientiously and legally broken. You cannot wash your hands of blood,” Murat Emir, a senior deputy with the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said Sunday night in parliament. He questioned why the bill called for healthy and unaggressive animals to be collected if they were not to be killed.

Others blamed the growth in the stray canine population on a failure to implement previous regulations, which required stray dogs to be caught, neutered, spayed and returned to where they were found.

The Humane Society International said in a statement that it had written to Erdogan to raise concerns that the law will cause “unnecessary suffering and death to countless animals in a short-term fix that won’t deliver a long-term solution.”

Ali Ozkaya, of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, described the bill as a “demand of the nation.”

The new legislation requires municipalities to collect stray dogs and house them in shelters to be vaccinated, neutered and spayed before making them available for adoption. Dogs that are in pain, terminally ill, or pose a health risk to humans will be euthanized.

However, many question where cash-strapped municipalities would find the money to build the necessary extra shelters.

The CHP, which won many of Turkey’s biggest municipalities in elections earlier this year, has said it will not implement the law. However, the newly passed bill introduces prison sentences of up to two years for mayors who do not carry out their duties to tackle strays, leading to suspicions that the law will be used to go after opposition mayors.

The government denies the bill would lead to a widespread culling. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told journalists last week that anyone killing strays “for no reason” would be punished.

“This is not a ‘massacre’ law. This is an ‘adoption’ law,” Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told HaberTurk television in an interview.

Murat Pinar, who heads an association campaigning for measures to keep the streets safe from stray dogs, says at least 75 people, including 44 children, were killed as a result of attacks or by traffic accidents caused by dogs since 2022. That’s the year his 9-year-old daughter, Mahra, was run over by a truck after she fled from two aggressive dogs.

In Istanbul, Cigdem Aksoy said she was so upset by the vote that she couldn't sleep at night.

“These animals who look into our eyes and ask for help will be wiped out,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned, no one can take a life that was created by God.”

Adem Coskun, who said his grandson was bitten by a stray dog, welcomed the measure.

“They should take the dogs (off the streets) and find them homes or put them under protection,” he said.

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Andrew Wilks reported from Istanbul.

A stray dog rests on a banner that reads "#withdraw the legislation" during a protest by animal rights activists in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

A stray dog rests on a banner that reads "#withdraw the legislation" during a protest by animal rights activists in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

A stray dog rests on a banner that reads "#withdraw the legislation" during a protest by animal rights activists in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

A stray dog rests on a banner that reads "#withdraw the legislation" during a protest by animal rights activists in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Next Article

What to know about the severe storms and flash flooding hitting parts of the US

2025-04-05 06:13 Last Updated At:06:21

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Parts of the South and Midwest, still reeling from violent storms, tornadoes and flooding that have killed at least eight people this week, faced an ongoing threat of catastrophic flooding Friday that forecasters said would stretch into the weekend.

Severe thunderstorms threatened a swath of the country with a population of 2.3 million people from northeast Texas through Arkansas and into southeast Missouri.

In Kentucky, continued storms inundated roads and a mudslide blocked a busy highway on the outskirts of Louisville. A 9-year-old boy was killed, swept away as he walked to a school bus stop.

The downtown area of Hopkinsville, Kentucky — a city of 31,000 residents 72 miles (116 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, Tennessee — was submerged.

The first wave of storms killed at least five people in Tennessee and one each in Missouri and Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called the devastation in his state “enormous” and said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches continued.

There was massive destruction in Lake City in eastern Arkansas, where homes were flattened and cars were flipped and tossed into trees.

At least 318 tornado warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service since this week's tornado outbreak began early Wednesday, and that was likely to grow. It has already eclipsed the 300 tornado warnings issued during last month’s deadly outbreak in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and other states.

Not all tornado warnings involve an actual tornado, and it was too early to know how many were actually produced by the current outbreak.

The severe weather hit at a time when nearly half the National Weather Service's forecast offices have 20% vacancy rates — twice that of a decade ago — according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

The prolonged deluge, which could dump more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain over a four-day period, “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the National Weather Service said.

Private forecasting company AccuWeather said northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee needed to prepare for a catastrophic risk from flash flooding.

“This is a rare and dangerous atmospheric setup,” said Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather chief meteorologist.

Forecasters have also warned of major disruptions to shipping and supply chains. Shipping giant FedEx, for example, has a massive facility in the danger area, in Memphis Tennessee. Barge transportation on the lower Mississippi River could also be affected.

Water rescue teams and sandbags were being set up across the region in anticipation of flooding, and authorities warned people to take the threat of rising water seriously.

“We need everyone to understand that all water poses risk right now and to take every precaution," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Associated Press writers George Walker IV in Selmer, Tennessee; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Seth Borenstein in Washington; and Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky, contributed.

Daniel Fraser takes a photograph in the warehouse of the damaged building of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

Daniel Fraser takes a photograph in the warehouse of the damaged building of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A shipping and receiving bay door is damaged along with the interior of the Gordon-Hardy building after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A shipping and receiving bay door is damaged along with the interior of the Gordon-Hardy building after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

William Fraser takes photographs inside the warehouse of a damaged building of Specialty Distributors after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

William Fraser takes photographs inside the warehouse of a damaged building of Specialty Distributors after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A home is in ruins after severe weather passed through Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

A home is in ruins after severe weather passed through Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

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