Authorities in Turkey have already managed to round up nearly 75% of stray animals as part of a national campaign launched following the enactment of the new Animal Protection Law and measures to prevent attacks by stray dogs, according to Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi.
In remarks made during an interview on the Turkish news channel TRT Haber, Çiftçi explained that the process of collecting stray animals has now been 100% completed in 51 of the country’s 81 provinces, while in the 30 metropolitan municipalities of Türkiye the rate stands at 64%, bringing the national average to 75%.
“When viewed as a whole, 75% of stray animals have been collected. That means that three out of every four animals have been transferred to shelters or are being cared for in their natural habitats,” stated the minister, who also emphasized that the initiative has two main objectives: to improve citizen safety and to rescue animals from the harsh conditions of the street.
On this last point, Çiftçi noted that animals on the street do not always find food and, furthermore, may die from lack of treatment when they fall ill: “The legislature introduced this regulation so that we can collect these stray animals; both to make our streets safer and so that our municipalities can care for them in a closed and comfortable facility, provide them with treatment, vaccinations, and food, and carry out adoption efforts.”
The minister also explained that these actions are being carried out in conjunction with the Zero Waste Project, launched in 2017 under the patronage of Emine Erdoğan, the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. As part of this project, 50 tons of waste are processed daily and transformed into 28 tons of animal feed, allowing both the waste to be utilized and the animals in shelters to be cared for.
“Seeing a child after a stray dog attack made me realize the gravity of the situation”
During the interview, Çiftçi cited a turning point that marked his commitment to the initiative to rescue stray animals, referring to an incident that occurred in 2024 in the eastern province of Erzurum, where he was then the governor, in which a child was seriously injured after an attack by stray dogs.
“When I learned that the child was undergoing surgery at the city hospital, I went straight there. Upon entering the operating room, the child’s face, eyes, ears, neck, and head were almost unrecognizable, and at that moment they were stitching up his ear… The child received exactly 100 stitches… He remained in intensive care for a week. Seeing that child in that condition made me realize the gravity of the situation. No parent would want their child to end up like that.”
The new Animal Protection Law, officially enacted in July 2024, replaced Turkey’s traditional “catch, neuter, and release” system for stray animals with a policy requiring municipalities to establish animal shelters; under this regulation, municipalities are required to remove all stray dogs and other animals — for social reasons, stray cats are exempt — and to spay or neuter them and keep them in shelters until they are adopted, with a deadline of December 31, 2028, to build or expand the necessary facilities.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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