Turkey has rounded up 78 percent of its stray dog population as part of a nationwide campaign, an Interior Ministry adviser told parliament, while denying allegations that animals are being killed outside the limits set by law.
Ahmet Yavuz Karaca, an adviser to the interior minister, told the parliamentary Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs Committee that about 1.2 million stray dogs had been caught across the country. He said the government now estimates Turkey’s stray dog population at about 1.25 million, far below earlier public estimates of 4 million.
Karaca said dogs taken off the streets were being put in shelters or in what authorities call natural living areas after treatment, sterilization and rehabilitation. He said euthanasia was carried out only under conditions set out in Law No. 5199 and denied claims that dogs were being unlawfully killed in shelters or other facilities.
“Conditions for euthanasia are clearly defined in the law,” Karaca said, according to Turkish media reports. “Other than that, there is no practice of euthanasia in our shelters or natural living areas.”
The comments come as Ankara faces continuing criticism over a 2024 law that requires municipalities to capture stray dogs and put them in shelters. The legislation, backed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), allows euthanasia for dogs deemed dangerous, terminally ill or unfit for adoption.
Animal rights groups and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) have called the measure a “massacre law,” saying it opens the door to mass killing and cannot be carried out humanely because Turkey lacks enough shelter space and oversight.
Karaca also claimed that many adopted dogs were later abandoned again, saying stricter enforcement was needed. He said the government had nearly completed collection efforts in nine metropolitan provinces and expected 10 or 11 more to reach their targets by September.