Why Erdogan Is Going After Turkey’s Stray Dogs - The New York Times
New York TimesJul 20
The Facts
Turkey's parliament on Tuesday passed legislation — proposed by Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party — that will allow authorities to house millions of stray dogs in shelters.
Dubbed by the opposition as a "massacre law," the legislation mandates local governments to round up, neuter, spay, vaccinate, and place stray dogs for adoption.
The Spin
Narrative A
This law is necessary to address the country's stray dog problem, as the current sterilization system is insufficient to curb the increasing number of stray dogs or address public safety concerns. The opposition is presenting it as a massacre law to resurrect its dwindling vote bank. In essence, it's an adoption law that would keep Turkey's streets safer for people amid a surge in dog attacks.
Narrative B
This is an immoral, inhumane, and legally broken law. Resorting to mass euthanasia of dogs or locking the homeless canines in overcrowded, underfunded shelters isn't a solution; it's a crime. The Erdoğan government just wants to hide its failure to implement existing legislation that requires municipalities to catch, tag, neuter, vaccinate, and re-release stray dogs. This is a cruel way to redirect people's anger from Turkey's cost-of-living crisis.