Drawing attention to the lack of good municipal-run animal shelters, the protesters said: “Although the municipalities have been given the job of establishing shelters and handling the issue of spaying by the Animal Protection Law of 2004, there is still not a single real shelter in any of the 1,200 municipalities.”

Turkish musicians onca Evcimik, Yusuf Güney and Doğukan Manço also participated in the protest. Güney said that he did not find it right for authorities “to imprison” the animals.

“We are here for the same purpose. We came together this day so that the mistake can be corrected and animals can get the life they deserve. What needs to be done is very simple. The spaying issue will be taken in a decent way; volunteers need to work in this issue,” Güney said.

Manço also took the stage during the protest, recalling that 15 dogs had been recently killed by poisoning in a shelter. He said that he had shared a video on his social media account with regards to this horrendous incident.