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Oggetto

URGENT – Türkiye’s stray dogs: publish the data, stop avoidable killing and adopt humane population management

Testo email completo

To the competent Authorities of the Republic of Türkiye,

I am writing as a private citizen deeply concerned about the continuing implementation of Law No. 7527 and its consequences for Türkiye’s homeless dogs.

This is not a request to disregard public safety. Human safety and animal welfare must both be protected. But public safety cannot justify opaque procedures, preventable suffering, overcrowded facilities, neglect or the killing of animals when humane, scientifically supported population-management alternatives exist.

Law No. 7527, published in the Turkish Official Gazette on 2 August 2024, fundamentally changed Türkiye’s management of stray dogs by requiring their collection and confinement until adoption and by allowing euthanasia under specified circumstances.

On 7 May 2025, the Constitutional Court rejected the application seeking annulment of the disputed provisions. The Court nevertheless emphasised that euthanasia is subject to legal conditions and veterinary safeguards and cannot constitute arbitrary killing.

This makes transparency and strict enforcement of animal-welfare safeguards essential.

The urgency has become even greater following the statement published by the Turkish Ministry of Interior on 18 July 2026.

According to that official statement, 92.35% of Türkiye’s stray animals are now being kept in shelters or so-called “natural living areas”, and the stated goal is to remove the remaining homeless animals from the streets by the end of 2026.

Such an extraordinary nationwide operation requires extraordinary transparency.

I therefore respectfully but firmly request the publication of complete, municipality-by-municipality data showing:
* the number of dogs collected since the implementation of Law No. 7527;
* the number currently alive and housed in municipal shelters and natural living areas;
* the official capacity and current occupancy of each facility;
* the number of animals sterilised and vaccinated;
* the number adopted;
* the number transferred between facilities;
* the number that died while in municipal custody, with causes of death;
* the number euthanised, municipality by municipality, with the precise legal and veterinary justification for each euthanasia;
* the number of inspections carried out in municipal shelters and natural living areas;
* violations identified, sanctions imposed and criminal investigations opened;
* public expenditure allocated and actually spent on sterilisation, veterinary care, shelter construction, animal welfare and adoption.

If 92.35% of the stray population has truly already been removed from the streets, the public and the international community have a legitimate right to know exactly where these animals are and what has happened to them.

I further request:
1. Independent access to municipal shelters and natural living areas for veterinarians, bar associations, recognised animal-protection organisations, journalists and independent observers.
2. Immediate investigation of every documented allegation of abuse, illegal killing, neglect, starvation, overcrowding or disappearance of animals in municipal custody.
3. Strict enforcement of veterinary and welfare safeguards governing euthanasia. Healthy, treatable and adoptable animals must not be killed merely because facilities lack space, funding or adequate management.
4. A national strategy centred on high-volume sterilisation, vaccination, registration, responsible ownership, prevention of abandonment and adoption.
5. Serious reconsideration of policies based primarily on mass removal and permanent confinement.

International animal-welfare organisations including FOUR PAWS and World Animal Protection have repeatedly warned that mass killing and indiscriminate mass sheltering do not address the root causes of free-roaming dog populations. Sustainable programmes based on sterilisation, vaccination, responsible ownership and community involvement provide a humane alternative.

Türkiye has the opportunity to demonstrate that protection of public safety does not require abandoning compassion, veterinary science or transparency.

The world is watching what happens to these animals.

And please note that Egypt has recently chosen sterilisation, vaccination and return to territory instead of mass removal and killing.

I therefore request a written response explaining what measures are being taken to guarantee that Law No. 7527 is not being used, directly or indirectly, to facilitate preventable deaths, abuse or disappearance of dogs, and when comprehensive national data will be made publicly accessible.

The protection of the most vulnerable constitutes an immediate public duty, requiring clear, traceable actions consistent with the applicable legal framework.

Yours sincerely,

Attivismo by Progetto Vegan (www.maakaruna.com)
Independent, non-partisan and non-religious movement committed to the protection of animals, the environment and universal rights.


REFERENCES

– Republic of Türkiye, Official Gazette, Law No. 7527, published 2 August 2024.

– Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Regulation on the Implementation of the Protection of Animals, published 13 December 2024.

– Constitutional Court of the Republic of Türkiye, decision of 7 May 2025 concerning amendments to Animal Protection Law No. 5199; reasoned press release published 1 December 2025.

– Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Interior, official statement on stray animals and shelter/natural living area management, 18 July 2026.

– FOUR PAWS International, statements on humane stray population management and Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return.

– World Animal Protection, analysis and recommendations concerning Türkiye’s stray-dog legislation.