A petition launched to secure the withdrawal of a controversial law on stray animals criticized for paving the way for mass killings was the Change.org campaign in Turkey that garnered the most signatures in 2024, according to a report from the advocacy platform.
The website, run by a US-based for-profit company allowing users to create and sign petitions to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers, has released a report of activities and public demands in Turkey in 2024.
According to the report, the petition campaign calling on authorities to withdraw the new law on stray animals was the most popular campaign in this year in Turkey, collecting 448,954 signatures.
Despite public outrage, the Turkish parliament on July 30 approved the law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from the streets, citing public safety concerns. The law mandates that stray dogs be collected, vaccinated, neutered and spayed and then placed in shelters for adoption. Dogs that are ill, in pain or deemed a health risk to humans can be euthanized. This is a departure from the previous policy to sterilize, vaccinate, treat and release stray animals.
Animal rights activists and opposition parties objected to the law, fearing that it will result in mass culling or force dogs into overcrowded and poorly managed shelters.
Following the approval of the law, many cases have been reported across the country involving the mass killing of stray dogs, which confirmed the fears of the law’s opponents.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended the legislation, stating it was necessary to address Turkey’s “stray dog problem.” The government estimates around 4 million stray dogs roam the country, with reports of attacks on people, including children.
Despite Erdoğan’s support, the law sparked significant opposition. The main opposition Republican People’s Party has petitioned the Constitutional Court to repeal the legislation.
Change.org’s report also shows that more than six million signatures were collected in Turkey in 2024 in numerous campaigns and 91 petition campaigns were successful.
Among the other most supported petitions in Turkey were those calling for the prevention of the opening of olive groves to mining activities, Google’s change of Atatürk’s identification from a former president of Turkey to Turkey’s founder, the inclusion of a drug used in the treatment of leukemia on the Social Security Institution reimbursement list and the removal of a sexist expression from the Turkish Language Association dictionary.