The Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality has introduced a mobile neutering unit to manage the population of stray animals in the city. This initiative comes amid a public debate over a recent law amendment allowing for the “euthanasia” of stray dogs.
The mobile unit, which is equipped with the necessary tools for neutering operations, will be deployed in areas with high concentrations of stray animals, said the municipality.
The vehicle features the Kurdish phrase "Ajal e, Sewal e, Heval e" (It is an animal, it is a friend, it is a companion) on its exterior.
Turkey’s parliament approves controversial euthanasia measure for stray dogs
According to the municipality, the mobile unit will enable veterinarians to respond more swiftly to emergencies and perform neutering operations in a sterile environment directly on-site. This approach aims to reduce the stress animals experience during transportation.
Vahap Saçaklı, head of the municipality’s Health Affairs Department, said, "This service was initiated to eliminate the stress animals’ experience when being removed from their environment.”
The amended Animal Protection Law
This local initiative comes in the context of Turkey's newly enacted animal protection law amendment, which allows authorities to euthanize stray dogs under certain conditions.
Passed by the parliament in late July, the law aims to address the growing number of stray dogs, estimated at around 4 million nationwide. However, critics argue that a mass neutering campaign would be a more humane solution.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, which also controls Diyarbakır, have announced that they will resist the law. These two parties control city municipalities in more than half of Turkey's provinces.
Under the new law, municipalities are required to capture stray dogs and place them in shelters. Dogs that exhibit aggressive behavior or have untreatable diseases will be euthanized. (VK)