Animal activists call for stringent animal cruelty laws

Debates on animal rights violations usually become more intensive in the week of World Animal Day, celebrated on Oct. 4, with animal activists speaking out against animal abuse. This year, as with previous years, has seen animal lovers and activists campaign about the fact that stray animals are not being looked after in Turkey. Stray animals face many dangers in Turkey such as violence and abuse, but municipalities have been accused of not caring about stray animals and not providing necessary animal shelters for them.

A recent incident that took place in Bolluca Forest in İstanbul’s Arnavutköy district on Sept. 29 cast a dark shadow over World Animal Day this year. Roughly 100 dogs were found poisoned in the forest. The mass poisoning of dogs brought Turkish animal rights activists and veterinarians out in a monumental rescue effort.

This incident has led many to question how animal rights work in Turkey. Turkey’s Animal Welfare Act No. 5199 went into force in 2004 and seeks to protect animals from torture, abuse and maltreatment. However, animal abusers only have to pay a fine of between TL 200 and TL 300 according to the Law on Misdemeanors, which such an offense is classed under.

The Animal Welfare Act states that municipalities must neuter stray animals and leave them at the spot where they were picked up, but this law is not properly enforced.

Meanwhile, a bill proposed by the İstanbul Bar Association’s Animal Rights Commission, also backed by a number of government deputies, seeks to place animal abuse under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and make crimes against animals punishable with jail sentences of at least three years. The bill also introduces sanctions that will ban a person convicted of animal abuse from working with children, in schools or school cafeterias, hospitals and other medical facilities.

If the bill is passed, prosecutors will also be allowed to start investigations into animal cruelty cases without the filing of a complaint.

“[Animal rights] lawyers want violent and abusive acts towards innocent stray animals to be stopped. Turkey’s Animal Welfare Act No. 5199, which is in force today, is not a dissuasive law to prevent mistreatment of animals in Turkey,” the head of the İstanbul Bar Association’s Animal Rights Commission, Hülya Yalçın, told Sunday’s Zaman.

“Animal rights violations should not be seen as a misdemeanor; Parliament should adopt more dissuasive punishments such as jail sentences of at least three years and hefty fines,” she stated.

Focusing on crimes committed against animals, Yalçın said: “Torturing animals is a psychological disorder. We know such habits will not disappear easily even though abusers could be jailed for three or more years. These people are inclined to reoffend when they are out, so they should be kept away from environments with children, such as schools, playgrounds and school services. These people may abuse children, who are unable to protect themselves, just like innocents animals, too.”

An animal rights activist, Nesrin Özkaya Aydın is another person, who says there is lack of rehabilitation services for stray animals in Turkey. She told Sunday’s Zaman that Turkey doesn’t do enough to protect its animals.

Aydın said there is a law in effect in Turkey but that it is not enforced satisfactorily, adding that municipalities have been reported to have abandoned stray animals in forests where the animals can’t find food or water to survive.

“Animal activists say the practices by municipal shelters of abandoning stray animals in surrounding forests to starve should be stopped. The neutering of underage animals should also be stopped. Hygiene and conditions of animal shelters should be improved, and the municipalities should make a genuine and concerted effort to find homes for stray animals,” she stated.

Mentioning a municipality that has established a national park for stray and abandoned animals, Aydın said: “Although they are rare, there are some municipalities who care and carry out their duty to protect animals. The municipality of Tuzla is one of them. The Tuzla Municipality opened a national park to house sick animals and abandoned animals in the district. I want to thank the municipality for its efforts.”

The park was opened in the Tuzla district of İstanbul on May 11 and provides modern health services for animals, meeting the standards of Europe.

Emphasizing that rehabilitation centers for animals tend not to be satisfactory, Aydın said: “Rehabilitation means treating injured animals and neutering them; however, it is often left up to animal rights activists to see that injured animals are helped. Some activists cover the cost of treatment themselves. If animals are treated by activists and animal lovers, what is the function of the rehabilitation centers?”