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Graphic photos and videos showing the bodies of stray dogs killed by the Turkish authorities and dumped into public landfills have been circulating online since November 24, 2022. Animal rights organisations have reported that city officials are responsible for this cruelty.
The mistreatment of stray dogs may be illegal in Turkey, but it is sadly common in this country estimated to have a population of stray dogs that numbers more than 10 million.
In late 2021, after reports that several children had been killed by stray dogs, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on city governments to take care of “dangerous stray dogs” by placing them in dedicated facilities.
“The primary responsibility lies with city governments”
An animal protection law adopted in 2004 requires city governments to take care of stray dogs, which is defined as rounding them up, treating them and vaccinating them before releasing them in the street.
But what is actually happening on the ground seems to be very different, as proved by the videos circulating on social media. Footage posted on November 24 shows a man beating a dog with a shovel in an animal shelter in the town of Konya, located in central Turkey. People have been responding with shock and horror to this video.
Domic Dyer is a member of the Born Free Foundation, an international organisation that closely follows the plight of Turkey’s stray dogs:
It’s not an isolated incident. Dogs are killed like that all the time, both by citizens and city governments. They are beaten to death and poisoned, often in terrible conditions.
Videos posted online by an animal rights organisation show the bodies of stray dogs dumped into city landfills. The posts concluded that the bodies were likely gathered and dumped there by city officials.
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