4-Step Action Plan for Stray Animals Announced

Four-year-old Asiye Ateş was severely injured after the attack of two pitbull dogs in Gaziantep, which was instrumental in starting new practices for animals in Turkey. With the circular sent on Monday, the municipalitiesto dangerous animals‘ While a 24/7 inspection was requested, the homeless were asked to be sent to shelters. President Erdogan also caused a new agenda in social media with a statement he made about stray animals.

The President again appealed to local governments that stray animals should be replaced by shelters. After that, on social media#StreetAnimalsDo Not Own‘ while the tag is on the agenda, many people think that these animals, that they should not be sent to shelters whose conditions have been complained about for a long time. argued. Today, the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum shared the details of the circular regarding street animals.

4 steps towards dangerous animals and stray animals

Minister Institution, those who own ‘dangerous animals’ must comply with the leash and muzzle requirement.announced that the ‘dangerous animals’ on the street will be taken to nursing homes by the municipalities. The institution conveyed its solution plan consisting of four pillars as follows:

Leash and muzzle control:

“If there are dangerous animals on the street, municipalities will take them to animal care centers. Citizens who own dangerous animals must comply with the ‘leash and muzzle’ requirement. The ban on entering parks and gardens and playgrounds must be complied with. Animal owners should be sensitive to this, our municipalities and law enforcement officers should tighten the controls. We need to increase controls. In the last incident, if the dog had a muzzle in his mouth, if he had a collar, he would not have been able to harm the child.”

The number of shelters will be increased, their conditions will be improved:

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change will support the increase and improvement of the number of shelters. Collaboration with municipalities. Where necessary, treasury lands will be allocated.”

Animals will be cared for and treated:

“Necessary support will be provided by the General Directorate of Iller Bank. We say to the municipalities, ‘We must rehabilitate stray animals. Let’s vaccinate our stray, non-dangerous animals, if they don’t have vaccinations, let’s see if there is a disease and apply treatment and sterilize them.’ The law already says ‘leave it where you bought it’. Let’s do what’s necessary.”

Feeding points will be established in certain areas on the streets:

“Street animals can starve and harm the environment. Let’s take care of them regularly. Let our municipalities determine areas and create a feeding point. At these points, it is very important to provide regular nutrition 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This way, there are no stray dangerous animals on the street. Street animals will not harm after they are rehabilitated and fed. ‘Let’s cull the animals’ is not true.”

The institution stated that the main reason for these issues to come to the agenda is their dangerous animals, and that they will take precautions in this regard and that they will also manage the process regarding stray animals.