Turkey’s parliament on July 29 approved a bill that allows officials to euthanise some of the several million stray dogs on the country’s streets. Opponents are concerned that a massive cull could be ahead.

Some dog lovers and critics have warned with what they say is only a little exaggeration that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands to become “the biggest murderer of dogs in history”. But Erdogan said prior to the debate in the legislature that Turkey is confronted by a problem “like no other civilised country”, which is “growing exponentially”. People, he said, wanted “safe streets”.

The passed legislative provision states that stray dogs deemed sick or aggressive must be put down. Other stray dogs must be rounded up and put into shelters. Veterinarians must make the decisions on which dogs survive in the crackdown.

Street dogs in Turkey are often taken care of by neighbourhood residents who treat them like pets. But ministers have pointed to sometimes fatal dog attacks and the spread of rabies. Dogs seen as homeless, but not dangerous or sick, are to be captured en masse, taken to animal shelters and also listed for adoption, they emphasise.

Observers say Turkey has nowhere near enough animal sanctuary places to make the plan work. The population of street dogs in Turkey is estimated to be 4mn, and municipalities have neutered around 2.5mn in the past 20 years, according to the draft bill as reported by Reuters. There are presently 322 animal shelters with a capacity for 105,000 dogs in Turkey.

Animal rights campaigners, pointing the finger at officials who they claim are preparing to use the legislation as cover for what will turn out to be a huge cull, given the lack of animal shelter places, have proposed that a mass sterilisation of dogs be launched instead.

Global Voices reported: “The emotional debate has revived memories of a 1910 tragedy when the Ottoman authorities rounded up around 60,000 stray dogs in Istanbul and sent them to a deserted rock in the Sea of Marmara.

“With nothing else to eat, the dogs tore each other to pieces.”

There have been lively protests against the feared cull both inside and outside the parliament. Visitors to parliament have been temporarily banned.

MPs opposed to the bill protested by putting on white gloves stained with fake blood.

The passed law states that all municipalities have to spend a minimum of 0.3% of their annual budget on animal rehabilitation services and building shelters. The local authorities will be given until 2028 to build new shelters and improve current shelters.

The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which controls Istanbul and other major cities, has declared that its mayors will not exercise the law. The government has warned that the stance could lead to the jailing of mayors.

The adopted euthanasia clause specifically states that dogs will be put down if they “present a danger to the life or health of people and animals, display uncontrollable negative behaviour, have a contagious or incurable disease or whose adoption is forbidden”, AFP reported.

A July survey on public perception of the bill, conducted by the research and consultancy firm KONDA, found that 63% of respondents said it was the responsibility of the state and local governments to devise solutions without using harsh methods like euthanasia. Around 22% responded that stray animals were not a problem at all. Only 15% said strays could be put to sleep when necessary.