Animal massacre at municipal shelter stirs rage in Turkey
30 dogs and 13 cats were found dead in trash bags outside an animal shelter of the Gebze Municipality in Turkey. The incident happened a few months after the Parliament passed a law aimed at removing the stray dogs from the streets and possibly get them killed.
Sebahattin Aydın / DUVAR
Animal rights advocates found dozens of dead dogs and cats at a garbage dump outside a municipal animal shelter in the Gebze district of Turkey’s northwestern Kocaeli province.
Kocaeli Animal Friends Association shared a video of the dead animals outside the Stray Animal Treatment, Rehabilitation and Training Center of the Gebze Municipality.
They noticed the trash bags were containing the dead bodies of 30 dogs and 13 cats. They also found medicine bottles and syringes within the bags.
The medicine bottles in the footage appear to be anesthesia drugs, Kocaeli Chamber of Veterinarians head Mehmet Bostancı said.
In a statement, the Gebze Municipality first denied the responsibility, saying its staff found these animals already dead in the streets.
“An investigation has been launched. Those involved have been suspended until the investigation is completed,” the municipality added in a controversial statement.
However, the advocates also shared the moments that the municipal staff injecting the animals and then putting them in trash bags.
The Kocaeli Governor’s Office launched an investigation into the incident.
After the spread of the news, animal rights advocates on Oct. 11 protested the massacre in front of the shelter.
The incident came after the Turkish parliament passed a bill in July aiming to round up millions of stray dogs, and possibly killing them amidst the objections of animal advocates.
The law mandates that municipalities must collect stray dogs, and keep them in shelters until they are adopted.
If they are not adopted and found “dangerous,” “euthanasia” can be performed with veterinary approval. Mayors and council members who fail to “perform their duties” may face prison sentences.
The new legislation allows for the euthanization of stray animals not only for medical reasons but also in other “exceptional” circumstances. Large metropolitan municipalities, provincial municipalities, and those with populations over 25,000 are required to establish shelters where collected animals would stay until they are adopted.
Municipalities have time until Dec. 31, 2028, to establish shelters and improve the conditions of existing ones.
(English version by Alperen Şen)