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A municipality in central Turkey run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is facing accusations of the mass killing of stray dogs.
Videos are circulating on social media that show dogs being euthanized in a shelter, allegedly in central Niğde province, and buried in mass graves, leading to public outrage and calls for an investigation.
Journalist Bahadır Özgür shared the footage on social media, which shows dogs being injected and buried.
Lawyers from the Ankara Bar Association have filed a criminal complaint claiming that 10 to 15 dogs are put down every day. The allegations have sparked renewed debate over a bill recently enacted into law that obliges municipalities to collect stray dogs and allows aggressive or sick animals to be euthanized.
The Niğde Municipality has denied the allegations, stating that the site is a legally designated cemetery for animals that have died naturally, in traffic accidents or from disease. The municipality claims its actions comply with the law.
Perihan Koca, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), has directed a parliamentary question to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı about the alleged mass killings. Koca wants details about the number of dogs in the Niğde shelter, the justification for their euthanasia and the legal basis for the actions.
Animal rights activists raised concerns about the treatment of stray dogs following passage of the legislation. Tuğba Gürsoy, head of the Ankara Bar Association’s animal rights committee, pointed to reports of two mass graves and claimed that some animals were killed using painful methods. The lawyers are pushing for autopsies to determine the causes of death.
The Niğde Municipality insists its procedures are humane and legal and accuses critics of misrepresenting the situation. Mayor Emrah Özcan announced a lawsuit against the people spreading the allegations.
Meanwhile, public protests continue against the new law.
The law mandates shelter improvements by 2028 and threatens mayors with prison time if they don’t enforce the law.
Critics says stray dogs, whose population is estimated to be 4 million across Turkey, will be doomed to die due to the poor conditions in overcrowded shelters and claim healthy dogs will also be killed en masse under the pretext of displaying aggressive behavior or appearing to be ill.