Court bans stray dog mapping app

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A judgeship in Ankara has blocked access to the "Havrita" app, which enables users to mark areas where stray dogs are present.

The Ankara 1st Penal Judgeship of Peace yesterday (August 22) imposed the access block, following a complaint by the lawyer of the Paw Guards Association, alleging that images and messages on the "Havrita" app's social media accounts violated his personal rights.

The judgeship ruled that access to the "havrita.com" website, as well as the platform's social media accounts, should be blocked.

The order came after reports that dozens of dogs were poisoned in the southern province of Antalya, after being marked by Havrita users.

Over the past two weeks, about 30 dogs were killed in Antalya's Muratpaşa district, BirGün reported. Also, nine dogs were found dead and 20 cubs went missing in the Konyaaltı district.

The Muratpaşa District Municipality filed a criminal complaint after the killings, demanding a ban on the app within the boundaries of the district.

Animal rights activists and people feeding stray animals have also been targeted in attacks over the past months. On June 10, three people from the same family were shot dead after an argument over feeding stray dogs.

Forty-four animal rights organizations in late June released a joint statement, calling on the authorities to take action against the "hate campaign" and attacks on people feeding stray animals.

"We take a break"

Approached by the Demirören News Agency (DHA), a lawyer for Havrita, Devrim Koçak, said the owner of the Havrita website had decided to suspend the site's for a while after "slanders."

"Our friend set up the site with good intentions, for the welfare of the stray dogs and for people not to be harmed because of stray dogs. When strange slanders emerged, he decided to take a break," he said.

"There is no access block, the owner of the site stopped it. We took a short break because we thought that ill-intentioned people might mark and then commit murderous massacres," he added. "People are dying, children are dying because of the stray dog problem ... People also have the right to life." (AEK/VK)