Turkeys top court rejected a law on Wednesday to annul a contentious law which would remove millions of stray dogs from the streets.

Click here to see what Japan is doing – https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2025/05/09/jp-cruelty-of-the-tokyo-euthanasia-centre-for-stray-dogs-where-animals-suffer-for-fifteen-minutes-before-they-die-from-suffocation-in-canine-gas-chamber/

Critics are saying that the new legislation could lead to mass killings of the animals.

The main Opposition Party had sought to overturn legislation enacted last year, arguing the it violated animal rights and the right to life.

However, the Constitutional Court have ruled the legislation is legally valid and thus it can continue to be implemented.

Turkey has stated that it will put stray dogs up for adoption.

Dozens of activists gathered near the Constitutional Court to press the court to repeal the law. They held up posters which read ‘cancel the blood ridden law’; as well as shouting anti government slogans.

It is estimated by the government that around 4 MILLION STRAY dogs roam Turkish cities and the countryside.

Whilst many of the dogs are harmless, the government moved to tighten legislation on stray animals, following incidents of dog attacks, including some cases involving children.

The law requires municipalities to round up stray dogs and relocate them to shelters where they would be vaccinated, neutered and spayed before making them available for adoption.

Dogs that are in pain, terminally ill or pose a heath risk would be euthanised,

Animal lovers, strongly oppose the ruling, dubbing it the ‘massacre law’, as they fear it will lead to widespread culling or with dogs ending up in disease ridden, overcrowded shelters’.

They have also raised concerns about how financially strapped municipalities will secure the additional funding required to construct the additional shelters.

It is feared that rather than allocating resources to care for the stray dogs; some municipalities will resort to immediate euthanisation on the pretext of ‘illness’. This is something that we at WAV would fully agree with; where does the shelter funding suddenly appear from to provide ‘care’ to an additional 4 MILLION dogs ?

We at WAV fully agree with the activist campaigners that very many healthy dogs will end up being immediately destroyed rather than municipalities providing for their wellbeing. We at WAV do have a little experience on the issue of stray dogs and cats; in 2005 we established SAV in Serbia, the Balkans, to fight the government regarding their abuses of stray / street dogs and cats – have a look –

About Serbian Animals.

About Us.

The latest court actions can only put additional pressure on authorities to enforce these hazy, misguided laws.

The Ankara Bar Association, an organisation for lawyers, claims that since its implementation, ‘hundreds of animals have died due to this law, which does not serve the public interest’.

Last year the very respected HSI criticised Turkeys approach to stray dog management.