Turkey’s Shame

Erdogan’s Cruel Attempt to Eradicate Stray Dogs

If you’re an animal lover, or more specifically, you love dogs, then what is happening now in Turkey should outrage you. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gave a divisive speech on Christmas day, which is polarizing a country already facing high inflation amid other problems.

Responding to an incident where a four-year old child was attacked by two pitbulls, (who were NOT strays, and did have an owner) Erdogan issued a call for stray dogs to be rounded up and sent to shelters. “I consider it an important service to remove stray animals from the streets and transport them to a clean and safe environment,” Erdogan tweeted. “I call on all municipalities to take urgent steps to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.”

Erdogan continues to try and drive a wedge between political groups using the stray dogs saying, “White Turks, take responsibility for your animals, these dogs are the dogs of the rich.” The term, White Turks, refers to the secular, more European-oriented of the Turkish population.

However, many of Turkey’s are far from being a safe and clean environment. Instead what is happening is that dogs are being rounded up in garbage trucks, with many injured, and taken to shelters where there’s little food and water. That is, if the dogs make it that far.

Not only that, but many of the street dogs are facing a gruesome death not only from municipal dog catchers but from some of the populace themselves. One woman took it upon herself to pour bleach into stray dogs’ water containers and food bowls, essentially poisoning them. According to the article published in duvaR, she’s been identified as having done this numerous times because she believes stray dogs spread diseases and are a “source for Covid-19”. Vile, ignorant woman.

And some municipalities go one step further and don’t even wait for the dogs to die before they bury them.

When I lived and worked in Moscow many years ago, I would occasionally take four-day weekends and fly to Istanbul, because of the culture, people and country. Now, I won’t set foot in that country. Erdogan is turning a beautiful country and its people into a Third World backwater.

And yet, all is not lost, as many Turkish citizens are anguished over what is happening to the stray dogs in their country, and has sparked a debate on many fronts.. Many Turks, of different political persuasions, still care about the street dogs in their country, and try to feed and take care of them, because sending them to a shelter is technically sending them to their death. Legislation passed by the Turkish parliament as late as mid-2021, has yet to be fully enforced by local authorities.

To add your signature to a petition to Erdogan to stop the killing of stray dogs, you can go here: https://dogdesk.good.do/stopthedogcatchers/stopthedogcatchers/ . There is also this petition at change. org:

chng.it/GVCdKy7Z via @UKChange