AKP deputy on stray dog bill: 'Those who don't condemn Haniyeh's death have no right to speak of dog love'

The chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs, ruling AKP deputy Vahit Kirişci criticized animal rights advocates by using the assassination of Hamas leader İsmail Haniyeh. “Those who can’t say ‘killer Netanyahu,’ those who do not condemn Haniyeh's death have no right to speak of dog love,” he argued. The parliament has recently passed a bill aiming to round up millions of stray dogs, and possibly kill them, amid huge protests.

Saturday August 03 2024 12:35 pm

Duvar English

Vahit Kirişci, the chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs, and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy, has used the assassination of Hamas leader İsmail Haniyeh to justify the controversial stray dog bill.

During his visit to the southeastern Kahramanmaraş province, Kirişci said, “Those who cannot call Netanyahu 'murderer Netanyahu', those who do not condemn Haniyeh's death have no right to speak of dog love and animal love” the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Aug. 3.

“The average life expectancy of stray animals is only two years. But if we take them into (shelters), sterilize them, rehabilitate them, and keep them there until they are adopted, owned dogs can live for about 15-16 years,” he further claimed.

The shelters in Turkey are often criticized for their unfavorable conditions for stray animals.

The Turkish parliament has recently passed a bill aiming to round up millions of stray dogs, and possibly kill them, amid huge protests by the animal rights advocates and opposition parties.

The bill would charge municipalities with getting strays off the street and into shelters until they are adopted. “Aggressive” dogs or any with untreatable diseases would be killed, dubbed by the AKP as “euthanasia.”

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on July 31.

“Why do they oppose this law when they can extend the (animals’ lives from) two years to 15 years? There are those who say 'sterilization is the only solution', it is true. Sterilization is one of the solutions, but it is not the only solution. Instead of ‘catch, sterilize, release,’ (we will adopt) ‘catch, sterilize, keep and adopt.’ There are necessary regulations for animals with incurable diseases and those carrying epidemic diseases. Euthanasia will be carried out under veterinary control for those,” Kirişci also said.