URGENT APPEAL

Mass Roundup and Killing of Stray Dogs in Turkey

A Call for International Intervention and Solidarity
April 7, 2026

To: International Animal Welfare Organizations
FOUR PAWS International | Humane Society International | Eurogroup for Animals | IFAW | World Animal Protection | Animals International | Animal Defenders International

Dear Colleagues and Partners in Animal Welfare,

We are writing to you as a coalition of Turkish citizens, animal rights volunteers, and civil society advocates to urgently draw your attention to an unfolding crisis: the systematic mass roundup and de facto extermination of millions of stray dogs across Turkey.

1. Background: Law No. 7527
On August 2, 2024, the Turkish Parliament passed Law No. 7527, amending the existing Animal Protection Law (No. 5199). Despite being officially framed as a “reform” to protect both public safety and animal welfare, this legislation has had catastrophic consequences for Turkey’s estimated 4 to 6 million stray dogs.

Key provisions of the law include:

•         Mandatory collection of all stray dogs by municipalities, with financial penalties (approx. ₺72,000 / ~€1,800 per dog) imposed on municipalities that return animals to the streets.

•         Euthanasia provisions for dogs deemed “aggressive,” “untreatable,” or posing “public health risks” — with vague criteria that leave the decision entirely to individual veterinarians under municipal pressure.

•         A prohibition on releasing rehabilitated animals back to their living environments, effectively sentencing every collected dog to permanent confinement in shelters that do not have capacity.

•         Feeding bans in major cities including Istanbul (ongoing) and Ankara (overturned by court in March 2026), criminalizing the act of caring for stray animals.

2. The Scale of the Crisis
The numbers speak for themselves and reveal a deliberate campaign of mass killing disguised as animal management:

•         Shelter capacity nationwide: approximately 89,000 dogs (per the Animal Rights Monitoring Committee / HAKİM).

•         Estimated stray dog population: 4 to 6 million (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry data).

•         Adoption rate: critically low, with no meaningful government-backed adoption infrastructure or public campaigns.

•         Constitutional Court ruling (May 7, 2025): rejected the opposition’s annulment request, declaring the law constitutional.

This means that for every dog that can be sheltered, roughly 45 to 67 dogs have nowhere to go. The February 2025 directive from the Ministry of Agriculture explicitly instructed governors to enforce collection and threatened penalties for non-compliance. The Istanbul Governor’s office has set a deadline of May 2026 for all stray dogs to be removed from the streets.

3. What Is Happening on the Ground
Reports from volunteers, independent monitors, and animal welfare organizations across Turkey paint a grim picture:

1.       Dogs are being killed before entering shelters. Municipal teams tasked with collection are reported to kill animals in the field, poison them, or transport them to remote areas where they die of starvation and exposure.

2.      Shelters operate as death camps. The vast majority of Turkey’s existing shelters lack adequate food, water, veterinary care, and space. Overcrowding leads to disease outbreaks, fights, and mass die-offs. Volunteers are routinely denied access.

3.      Feeding bans target caregivers. Citizens who feed stray animals — a legally protected activity under the original law — face harassment, fines, and intimidation by authorities and hostile neighbors, emboldened by the new legal framework.

4.      No sterilization program was launched. Despite the law’s stated goals, the government has not invested in the only scientifically proven humane population control method: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Had a mass sterilization campaign been initiated when the law was passed in August 2024, the population would already be declining naturally.

5.      Pet breeding and sales continue unregulated. As the Turkish Bar Association has emphasized, the law fails to ban commercial breeding and pet sales, which are the primary source of abandoned animals. Collecting dogs from streets while allowing unrestricted production makes population control impossible.

4. Why International Action Is Critical
Domestic legal avenues have been largely exhausted. The Constitutional Court has upheld the law. Administrative court challenges proceed slowly and on a case-by-case basis. The political environment leaves little room for legislative reversal in the near term. The Turkish government is responsive to international pressure, particularly from European institutions, given Turkey’s EU candidacy status, tourism economy, and diplomatic relationships.

5. Our Specific Requests
We respectfully and urgently request the following:

6.      Public statements and condemnation from your organizations regarding Turkey’s treatment of stray animals under Law No. 7527, calling on the Turkish government to halt the mass roundup and prioritize humane alternatives.

7.       Engagement with European institutions — including the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the European Commission — to raise Turkey’s animal welfare record in the context of EU accession discussions and bilateral relations.

8.      An independent investigation mission to Turkish shelters and municipalities, to document conditions, verify reports of extrajudicial killings, and produce an evidence-based report for international audiences.

9.      Technical and financial support for Turkish municipalities and NGOs willing to implement TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) programs as an alternative to mass roundup.

10.   International adoption and rescue corridor facilitation to help Turkish volunteers rehome dogs through partnerships with European and North American rescue organizations.

11.    Pressure on the Turkish government to ban commercial breeding and pet sales as a necessary legislative complement to any population management strategy.

12.   Media and public awareness campaigns in international media outlets to inform the global public about this crisis and its scale.

6. Closing
Turkey’s stray dog crisis is not a matter of public health management — it is a systematic campaign of mass killing driven by political calculation, enabled by a legal framework that criminalizes compassion and rewards cruelty. Every day that passes without international scrutiny, thousands of dogs are being collected into overcrowded facilities where they die of neglect, disease, or deliberate killing.

We are running out of time. The animals are running out of time.

We stand ready to provide evidence, documentation, photographs, video footage, shelter access information, legal analysis, and any other materials your organizations may need to take action. We are prepared to coordinate with your field teams and facilitate contact with local volunteers, lawyers, veterinarians, and municipal officials willing to cooperate.

Respectfully and with urgency,

APPENDICES (available upon request):
•         Full text of Law No. 7527 (Turkish and English translation)

•         Turkish Bar Association legal analysis and opposition report

•         HAKİM (Animal Rights Monitoring Committee) shelter capacity report

•         Photographic and video evidence from municipal shelters

•         Istanbul and Ankara Governor’s directives (original documents)

•         Ministry of Agriculture circular dated February 12, 2025

•         Court decisions on feeding bans (Ankara Administrative Court, March 2026)