Turkey's ruling party targets stray dogs in a new legal proposal
Jackson, a stray Istanbul dog adopted in 2020. Image courtesy of the author. Turkey is once again drawing criticism from animal rights activists over a proposed bill targeting stray animals. The country's Animal Rights Law was last amended in 2021. The changes introduced at the time, included mandatory pet microchipping, penalizing pet abandonment, and a provision on sterilizing strays. While lawmakers initially included a provision allowing for the euthanasia of unadopted strays, it was eventually cut because of public backlash. However, the latter is back on the agenda, in a controversial ne...