Report: Gov’t withdraws controversial amendment to
animal protection law
2 October 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM
Turkey’s parliamentary commission has withdrawn a draft law for further amendment on Tuesday that would make changes to Turkey’s Animal Protection Law No. 5199 following a series of protests across Turkey.
Thousands of animal rights activists marched against the draft law on Sunday, which is seeking to introduce practices currently used in other countries such as collecting stray animals from the streets and euthanizing members of the “excess” population.
More than 10,000 people marched in İstanbul's Taksim neighborhood, and many others walked in 13 other cities, in protest of the planned changes.
There were simultaneous protests in 13 other cities on Sunday, although officials have mostly been silent on the matter.
The draft law was expected to be among the first pieces of legislation to be discussed after the Parliament returned from the recess. However, following a series of protests and reactions from the public, Parliament’s Ecology Commission withdrew the draft legislation to make further amendments.
In addition to ignoring demands that had been voiced by the animal rights community, such as the banning of dolphin parks or the introducing of tough rules against the breeding and selling pets, the draft introduces new practices such as isolating the city's stray animals and relaxing regulations on animal testing. Animal rights groups have labeled the proposal “the law of death.”
The draft came as a shock to the country's animal activists as it was presented to the prime minister after he and representatives of the country's major animal rights groups had met.
Officials say the animals taken off streets will be cared for at “natural life” parks, but Turkey's experience with shelters and rehabilitation centers and the sheer number of animals on the streets due to municipalities consistently ignoring laws on spaying and neutering strays make this physically impossible.
Commission officials said the proposal will be brought into the agenda of the commission after making several changes on controversial articles, ntvmsnbc.com news portal reported.
PARTIAL SUCCESS!
According to Turkish newspapers, the bill that was expected to be discussed in Parliament on Monday, 1 October, had been withdrawn before deliberations even started. However, it was mentioned that "it will be re-proposed after a review of the draft".
The draft "Amendment to the Animal Protection Law No. 5199" has just been WITHDRAWN and we had been informed by Turkish activists that one government official clearly said that: "Picking up strays from the street and putting them in "Nature Parks" will not be changed. It will happen."
With the huge protests held simultaneously in 13 major cities, in what can be called 'the world's largest no-kill demonstration ever', Turkish activists have sent a clear message to their government that this inhumane law will not be accepted and although this may not be the end of this subject, it is a huge victory so far.
The resistance in Turkey is still alive and activists are getting ready for the next big protest to be held in Ankara, capital of Turkey, on Sunday, 7 October 2012.
This is not over yet, so please do not lean back!
Please keep the information circulating, and please keep signing and sharing the petitions that you will find on this page to support our Turkish friends.
Thank you!
Ministry defends animal protection law after protests
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The Turkish Forestry and Waterworks Ministry has defended a controversial amendment to a law on animal protection after broad participation in protests in 14 Turkish cities.
“All creatures have the right to life,” was proposed as an amendment to Law no. 5199’s essential principle, according to a written statement issued by the ministry yesterday.
The draft, which was called the “murder law” by thousands of protesters Sept. 30 in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, has fueled fears of mass killings of animals.
However the ministry said neither the present law nor draft law provided for euthanasia.
The ministry said it was totally against kill shelters.
Stray animals are picked up from the streets and sent to shelters to wait up to 30 days for adoption, after which municipalities put them down in many European countries such as Spain, Finland, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Romania and Ireland, the statement said.
“Unlike European countries, we aim to find owners for those pets but since the system does not work properly and the capacity of shelters is insufficient, we have added the ‘natural parks’ mechanism until long-term solutions are found.”
The reason was to protect animals from dying on the streets due to traffic accidents, hunger, illnesses and thirst.
The new draft, which is slated to be discussed in Parliament before the end of October, authorizes the removal of all stray animals from the streets and their placement in “natural parks” out of the cities.
The ministry also said the new law will mandate stricter punishments for rape, abuse and torture crimes against animals.
“Natural parks will be a prosperity area for animals,” according to the ministry, however animal lovers remember the mass poisoning of stray dogs in Istanbul’s Bolluca Forest in 2011.
More than 100 dogs were rounded up and brought to the forest by municipal officials and later poisoned, according to animal rights activists, on March 10, 2011.
October/02/2012
Important update!
Although newspaper headlines like 'Gov't withdraws controversial amendment to animal protection law' and 'Gov't steps back in bid to amend animal rights law' are technically correct, we have learned that the withdrawn amendment was NOT the proposal presented last month by The Minister for Forestry and Water Prof. Veysel Eroglu which includes the planned 'natural life parks' and unacceptable breed specific legislation.
In fact, it was an earlier draft proposal presented in February by Mr Umit Oral that has been withdrawn for further discussions.
The protests were a HUGE success, something of an unprecedented scale in Turkey and in Europe, but NOTHING has been achieved yet. NOTHING!