The İstanbul Governor’s Office on Thursday ordered the rounding up of stray dogs across the city, citing citizen complaints and public safety concerns ahead of the start of the school year.
A circular signed by Governor Davut Gül instructed local officials to carry out “immediate collection activities” in line with existing regulations, particularly around schools and other crowded areas. “With schools reopening, complaints and grievances are expected to increase. In this context, it is urgently ordered that stray animals be collected across our city, especially around schools, in view of the importance of environmental health, public order and public safety,” the letter said.
The decision comes after reports of packs of stray dogs roaming parts of the city. The governor’s office said the animals were posing a threat to residents’ safety and that the measures were necessary to prevent incidents as students return to classrooms on September 8.
Last August parliament passed amendments to Turkey’s Animal Protection Law, backed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its nationalist ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The legislation, known as Law No. 7527, requires municipalities to capture stray dogs and place them in shelters. Dogs deemed dangerous, terminally ill or unfit for adoption may be euthanized under provisions of the Veterinary Services Law.
While the bill initially included explicit language permitting euthanasia, that term was later removed from the text following a public backlash. Still, the law drew strong opposition from animal rights groups and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who argued it opened the door to mass killings and violated international standards on animal welfare. Critics dubbed it a “massacre law.” Protests erupted in major cities, with activists and opposition lawmakers staging demonstrations outside the Constitutional Court and in parliament. CHP officials vowed to resist implementing the law in municipalities they control, including İstanbul and Ankara.
In one symbolic protest during the parliamentary debates, opposition lawmakers wore white gloves smeared with red paint to symbolize blood. They warned that the law could lead to a repeat of a tragedy in 1910, when some 60,000 stray dogs were exiled to a deserted island by Ottoman authorities and died of starvation.
In August 2024, the CHP petitioned the Constitutional Court to annul most of the law’s provisions, arguing that it undermined the right to life and contravened international treaties. But in May of this year, the court rejected the challenge, dismissing both the request for annulment and the appeal for suspension until a final verdict.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has defended the law, citing public safety and claiming that Turkey faces a unique stray animal crisis. “People want safe streets,” he said. The government has warned that local officials who refuse to implement the law could face legal action, even jail time.
Despite revisions to soften its language, critics say the law fails to address the root causes of the stray dog population, such as inadequate sterilization programs and poor shelter conditions. Many warn that adoption alone cannot handle the scale of the problem, given that Turkey is estimated to have nearly 4 million stray dogs.