Turkey's evil plans...
Government to finish off dog massacre started by Unionists
An article posted in Today's Zaman - July 27, 2012
Although many generations have come and gone, the howls of İstanbul’s stray dogs left to starve and die on an island in the Marmara Sea under orders from the Committee of Union Progress (CUP) government 102 years ago are still fresh in the Turkish psyche.
Little did the residents of İstanbul, who have shared horrifying accounts of sleepless nights listening to the agonizing shrieks of the dogs on the island, know. They couldn’t possibly imagine that what the Unionists started was going to be a continuous way of life for post-Ottoman Turkey.
Turks have lived in their cities with stray animals for centuries, and happily, according to accounts from many foreign and national authors and travelers. Although modernization has made killing the city’s animals almost a routine activity for municipalities, Turkey’s current Animal Protection Law No. 5199, still has the spirit of the country’s ancestors. At least on paper, Turkey is a no-kill country in dealing with the homeless animal population. But the spirit of that law is also going to change with a draft law, the content of which the government has not fully shared with the public or with civil society organizations.
Last year in January, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promised animal rights groups that torturing animals would become a crime under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Currently, it is a misdemeanor. A draft law making changes to 5199 was prepared by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, with animal rights groups’ initial hopes increasingly turning into dread and fear.
The secrecy surrounding the new draft appears to be not without reason. According to Zuhal Ardahanlı, head of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Animal Rights Commission, several dreadful changes await Turkey’s animal rights activists and stray animals.
Not only that, the government will also not be keeping its promise of placing 5199 under the TCK. Cruelty to animals will not be a criminal offense. Ardahanlı explains that since municipalities routinely kill dogs, punishment of the torture or murder of animals would mean municipal veterinarians and heads of veterinary departments would be deprived of their right to a civil servant position, if they were to face criminal charges.
She insists, however, that the draft is not the government’s doing but the work of ministry bureaucrats.
This is not all of the bad news: According to the draft, municipalities will have the right to round up strays from the streets when responding to complaints. Currently, dogs have to be spayed and neutered and returned to the place they were taken from. Only in cases of biting can a dog be removed from its street and placed in a shelter, although of course, in reality, municipalities routinely collect dogs and dump them in forests to starve and die.
The draft also doesn’t introduce any restrictions on dog breeding and sales, which is the source of problems. Rather, it is centered on this highly profitable business of breeding, selling and then “destroying” the “surplus product.” Municipalities also have budgets for spay and neuter programs, but most of the money is transferred to other areas. Corruption at most municipalities and lack of transparency make it impossible for animal rights groups to expose this illegitimate use of the budget.
According to Ardahanlı and other animal rights groups, the new law also introduces euthanasia as a method of dealing with unwanted animals, just like in some Western countries, although it doesn’t use that word.
Yet another new change concerns the use of animals in experiments. The rules for experiments are already lax in Turkey. Many EU businesses are testing their products on animals, Ardahanlı said, because of this. With the new law, the rule that a veterinarian should be present during an experiment will be abolished. This means that testing on animals will be available to various industries with little restrictions.
Ardahanlı notes, “Our religion is against animal testing. [Islamic scholars] say that experimenting on animals is haram [forbidden].” Another change the new law introduces is that the ministry will decide how many animals a person can keep at their home, which she notes is an infringement on personal freedoms.
Like other activists, she says that spaying and neutering programs -- performed by the relevant ministries and overseen by a commission of academics and respected public figures -- and restrictions on the sale of pets will end the unnecessary suffering of Turkey’s urban animal population. “This absolutely needs to be taken from the hands of municipalities,” she said, echoing a sentiment voiced by hundreds of shelter volunteers across Turkey.
More suffering dogs, more money
But as many other animal activists note, the pet industry is a big industry. Every birth and death, every neutering tender at every municipality, every operation and every food purchase is money that goes into somebody’s pockets, whether that be a private or municipal veterinarian, a dog breeder or a medicine or veterinary supplies company that works with the municipalities.
Animal rights activists say the government is actively supporting -- and perhaps is and wants to become a participant -- in this lucrative cycle of death and suffering. A source who requested to remain unnamed claims that the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality is planning to open a dog food factory, adding that this is happening at a time when the government is introducing new regulations to allow the use of animal carcasses that are normally not meant for human consumption. If true, this means that the municipality plans to use slaughtered dogs in the dog food business, which might be a reason for officials to continue the cycle of breeding and destroying.
Sources also say that to ensure that there is no debate on the law, the new amendments will be voted on in Parliament as part of a package made up of unrelated laws, a tactic to avoid democratic discussion.
Aylin Cumalıoğlu, head of the Ankara-based Çayyolu, Association for the Protection of Natural Life and Sheltering Stray Animals, told Sunday’s Zaman, “We understand that the amendment draft includes some provisions that do not meet the values upheld by the civil society organizations we represent.” She said according to what she knows about the draft, the legal change is an attempt at introducing Western-style “dog control” laws based on killing.
“Such initiatives that might allow the mass destruction of animals goes against our religion, traditions and humane values,” she said.
According to accounts from 1910, when the Unionists wanted to round up İstanbul’s dogs, they couldn’t find anyone to do the job. “No Turk wanted to assume this sacrilegious duty that would bring down a curse upon the Crescent. This is why thugs and bandits were assigned the task,” Pierre Loti wrote at the time.
The anti-democratic character of the draft -- the secrecy in which work on it is being conducted, and the obstinate refusal of officials to talk to civil society groups -- is a major problem. But if it passes, its implications will go further than that. Passing a law that has no respect for animal life -- and one, which, to the contrary, encourages cruelty to animals -- goes against our roots.
At the end of the day, this law might prove to be the most crucial transformation for Turkish society: Ultimately, the new law will decide what Turkey wants to be. Will we remain true to our roots, or will we adopt an imported money-making mechanism that will relentlessly slaughter animals for the “good” of certain industries? This is the decision the government will be making when Parliament resumes work in October.
Source: Today's Zaman
... the proposed changes to Turkey's very comprehensive Animal Rights Law 5199 and the draft document which was prepared in secret and presented to Parliament, if passed, would mean a slow and lingering death for all of Turkey's stray animals!
The draft document, prepared in secret and that was presented for approval last week (mid September 2012) is a nightmare. The Government of Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan intends to abolish the current program of TNR (Trap, Neuter and Return). Instead it proposes that municipalities round up ALL free roaming animals (dogs and perhaps even cats) and place them in what they are calling 'Dogal hayat parklari' (natural life parks).
Bearing in mind the pathetic inability of the Turkish government to run proper a proper sheltering network and rehabilitation facilities there is every single reason to believe that those so-called “Natural Parks” will be nothing but death camps of the worst kind.
These parks will just be fenced off areas, probably forests, far from populated areas where hundreds or even thousands of animals will have to fend for themselves as they will be left there to die slow and agonizing deaths without food, and water. Many will die of starvation, others will fight to the death over whatever they can find. Many will probably suffer terrible injuries from fights over limited food sources and disease will spread through the population like wildfire. They will end up eating each other, like they did in the past.
Another crucially important change in the law is the introduction of Breed Specific Legislation. Owners of dogs whose breed is considered dangerous will be forced to surrender their animals to either be killed or incarcerated for life in those “Natural Life Parks”.
Scientific experiments on stray animals might be carried out.
Those amendments, threaten, if passed, to bring genocide to Turkey in a scale never seen before.
In short this means that...
English translation of the amendments
ARTICLE I. Following amendments have been made to Animal Protection Bill no. 5199 accepted 24.06.2004: Subsections (k) and (o) to the paragraph I, Article III, have been amended thus and the subsection below has been added to the paragraph.
k) Animal shelter: facilities built and managed by local administrations and non-governmental organizations where
stray animals are rehabilitated and cared for until they are adopted;
o) Ministry: Ministry of Forest and Water Affairs
p) Stray animals natural life park: Facilities built and managed by local administrations and non-governmental
organizations to which after being spayed/neutered, vaccinated and registered, stray animals if there is no available
space in the shelters are taken and lead a life according to their ethological needs until they are adopted.
ARTICLE II. Following paragraph has been added to the Article V.
In city and townships, a person who takes ownership of or looks after a pet or a decorative animal is liable for sheltering the animal, meeting their ethological needs in accordance with their species and reproductive methods, taking care of their health and taking all necessary precautions with regard to the health and safety of people, animals and the environment. The owners of the animals will receive the required training.
The breed and the number of pets and decorative animals in houses are determined by the regulations of the Ministry considering the ethological needs in accordance with their species, their health and the health and safety of people, animals and the environment.
ARTICLE III. The fourth paragraph of Article VI has been amended thus and the following paragraph has been added to Article VI.
It is forbidden to kill stray or incapacitated animals, apart from the situations set forth in the Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Feed and Food Law no. 5996 of 11/6/2010 and Public Health Law no. 1593.
The spay and neutering of stray animals are carried out and regulated by Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock. Spay and neutering carried out by municipalities and other organizations and institutions are supervised by Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock. Spay and neutering principles and procedures will be determined in a regulation issued by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock.
Local administrations are responsible for the rounding up of the animals to the animal shelters. These animals will first be held in the observation areas established in these centres. Animals that have been sterilised, vaccinated and rehabilitated will be registered and cared for in the shelters until they are adopted. When the shelter cannot sustain the population, the rehabilitated stray animals are accommodated in the natural life parks until they are adopted. Land specified by Law no. 6831 of 31/8/1956, may be allocated for this purpose for no charge, by permission of the Ministry. The enforcement of this paragraph will be determined in a regulation issued by the Ministry.
Permits for shelters and natural life parks are given by the Ministry.
ARTICLE IV. The following paragraph was added succeeding the fourth paragraph of Article IX.
Experiments on animals will be carried out by researchers who attend training programs organized by the ethic commitees and receive a certificate on how to use experimental animals.
ARTICLE V. The subsections (a) and (l) of the first paragraph of Article XIV have been amended. The term “torture” was removed from the subsections (c), (g), and (j) and the following subsections were added to the same paragraph.
To torture animals, to carry out a cruel and unfair action, to beat an animal, leave them hungry or thirsty, to abandon them to the street, to expose them to extreme heat or cold, or to cause them psychological pain.
To produce, own, bring into the country, sell or advertise, exchange, display or make a present of an animal which constitutes a danger such as a Pitbull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasilerio etc. or their mixes.
To leave stray or owned animals unattended within or outside the municipality boundaries,
To sell wild, aggressive, and poisonous animals in shops selling pets or decorative animals.
To cause the death of animals by torture.
ARTICLE VI. Article XV has been amended.
A provincial animal welfare committee will be convened in each city with the Governor or Vice Governor instructed by the Governor as chairperson and for the purpose of protecting animals and addressing existing problems and their solutions.
These meetings will be attended by;
a) In metropolitan municipalities, the metropolitan mayor and the mayors of the districts that come under the
metropolitan, and in provinces which are not metropolitans, the mayors or vice mayors,
b) Special provincial administration secretary general or deputy secretary general,
c) Provincial environment and city planning manager,
d) Provincial ministry branch manager,
e) Provincial food, agriculture, and livestock manager,
f) Public health manager,
g) Provincial National Education manager
h) Municipal Manager of Veterinary Services,
i) A faculty representative in places where there are veterinary faculties,
j) At most two representatives of voluntary organisations operating exclusively for the protection of animals and
selected by the Governorship.
j) A representative of the provincial or regional chamber of veterinary doctors.
Where deemed necessary by the Committee Chairperson, representatives from other organisations and institutions
related to the subject may be requested to attend.
The provincial environment and forestry manager will act as the secretary of the provincial animal welfare committee. As a result of its efforts the committee will notify the Ministry of its main policies, strategy, implementations and opinions. If there is an organisation in a province which does not have a representative, the animal welfare committee will consist of the other members. The committee will meet at the invitation of the committee chairperson.
The working principles and procedures of the provincial animal welfare committee will be determined by a regulation issued by the Ministry.
ARTICLE VII. Article XIX and its name has been amended.
Duty and Financial Support
Article XIX. Founding of animal shelters and stray natural life parks, and hospitals for the protection of strays and domestic and decorative animals, carrying out of care, rehabilitation, vaccination, sterilization in such facilities are performed by municipalities in metropolitan areas and local administrations in others. Ministry provides financial support to the local administrations it finds suitable.
ARTICLE VIII. Article XXII is amended.
Article XXII: Ministries, local administrations and legal entities can found zoos. Zoos are arranged in a manner suited to natural habitats. Land specified by Law no. 6831 can be allocated for no charge for the zoos built by the Ministry. The principles and procedures relating to the establishment and operation of zoos will be determined by a regulation issued by the Ministry.
ARTICLE IX. The title of Article 28 has been changed to “Punishments” and (b) and (k) subsections of the first paragraph is amended and the following paragraph was added to the same article.
Those who act in breach of the rules and responsibilities of ownership and care of animals specified in the first, second third and sixth paragraphs, administrative fine of 80 TLs per animal, and those who do not abide by the regulations and procedures issued by the Ministry specified in the eighth paragraph an administrative fine of 300 TLs is charged.
k) An administrative fine of 750 TLs per animal for those who act in breach of (a) paragraph of Article 14; an administrative fine of 300 TL per animal who act in breach of (b), (d), (e), (f), (h), (ı), (k), (m) and (n) subsections; imprisonment for up to one year for those who act in breach of (j); imprisonment for up to two years for those who act in breach of (l) and (o). Animals slaughtered in a manner breaching the subsection (f) of first paragraph and dangerous dogs in breah of (l) are confiscated.
Actions apart from first, second and fifth of Article 5 are carried out by a veterinary doctor, a veterinary health technician, an animal welfare volunteer, a member of an animal welfare association or foundation or persons appointed to round up, supervise, care for or protect animals, the punishment to be imposed will be doubled.
Article X. Third paragraph of Article X has been abolished.
Article XI. A provisional article has been added to law no. 5199.
Provisional Article 3: In accordance with the first provisional article, in addition to those who own dangerous dogs, those who accommodate them are required by law to surrender those dangerous dogs to shelters and shelters are required to prioritize and take them.
Article XII. This law comes into effect on the date of its publication.
General Basis
In order to address the issues pertaining to the enforcement of Law no. 5199, amendments to the law in question needed to be made.
With the draft prepared in this framework, raping animals, adopting dogs of dangerous breeds, breach of animal rights such as causing their death by torture, in order to make it deterrent, they are removed from misdemeanors and judicial punishments are instated and the amounts of administravie fines are increased.
In addition, in the draft, regulations have been made pertinent to the rehabilitation of stray animals, banning of the sales of wild, aggressive, and poisonous animals in shops that sell domestic and decorative animals, and arrangements about housing animals in private homes.
Translation provided by Let's Adopt!
Amending Turkey's animal welfare law would be bad news for street dogs, says IFAW
By Hanna Lentz - September 26, 2012
Concern is quickly rising over a proposed amendment to Turkey’s 2004 Animal Protection Law - No.5199 – which could be disastrous for the country’s roaming dogs.
In 2004, Turkey passed animal welfare legislation which, in part, outlined an approach to controlling the country’s roaming dog population.
This plan reflected tolerance towards street dogs, and involved the capture, sterilization, vaccination and then return of dogs to the areas from which they came – a method commonly referred to as “CNVR” (Capture, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return).
But now, a proposed amendment to No.5199 would take the “R” out of CNVR and instead have the dogs moved permanently into shelters and “natural parks” – large outdoor spaces where dogs would be confined indefinitely.
There is no assurance that these shelters or long-term “natural parks” would be managed in a manner that didn’t result in dog suffering. And Turkish activists are raising concerns about the care these dogs may or may not receive, with some believing dogs would be dumped in remote corners of cities and left to fend for themselves.
Any legislation which would result in the lifetime confinement of dogs in shelters or restricted spaces in which their basic needs can never be met is not only bad policy, it is inherently cruel.
Without appropriate care and supervision, sheltering facilities and dog confinement operations often become hotbeds of stress and disease. And when these facilities are meant to house dogs for the rest of their lives, those lives may often be brief and miserable as a result of untreated illnesses and chronic psychological distress.
But the issue with this proposed amendment goes far deeper than problems associated with insufficient care and poor shelter management - it goes to the heart of what it means to adopt effective animal welfare legislation.
Without good implementation and enforcement, animal welfare policies are just words on paper. And even the best enforcement is inadequate when laws regarding population management don’t address the desires and needs of a community and its animals.
If the original, 2004 animal welfare legislation had been sufficient to solve problems associated with Turkey’s roaming dogs, there likely wouldn’t be a need to amend that legislation today.
Good policy takes implementation and enforcement into account, as this is key when turning policy on paper into solutions on-the-ground. Reports have shown that the dog population management approach outlined in No.5199 was neither adequately implemented nor enforced.
Policy awareness and compliance, as well as implementation of humane dog control and catching methods were substandard and below OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) guidelines. Even if CNVR were the right policy, without government support and enforcement it didn’t have a fighting chance.
But using CNVR alone to manage Turkey’s dogs - even if it was effectively implemented - likely wouldn’t have solved their problems. CNVR only addresses dogs once they’re on the street, it doesn’t prevent them from getting there or ensure adequate lifetime supervision.
A CNVR-only policy is based on the assumption that roaming dogs are not owned, that those roaming dogs are reproducing and creating more homeless dogs, and that they are the only source of dogs and puppies on the street.
This means that if CNVR was being used as the only management tool, it would never have gotten to the heart of the problem in a country where roaming dogs come to be on the street for a variety of reasons.
In addition, CNVR alone won’t change ownership practices, it won’t control nuisance, dangerous, and unwanted animals, and it won’t prevent new dogs from roaming through communities.
With the myriad of interventions available to tackle dog management, knowing where to begin can seem daunting. But the International Companion Animal Management Coalition (ICAM) has not only published guidance on the humane management of dog populations, they have a version that has been translated into Turkish.
I would urge anyone interested in developing humane, sustainable approaches to dog management in Turkey to share this document, and urge Turkish policy-makers to drop the proposed 2012 amendment and begin looking at legislation that supports a comprehensive, humane and more importantly, effective and sustainable, approach.
It should be noted that this same amendment to No .5199, which is so troublesome for its creation of permanent animal confinement, also calls for stricter punishment of animal abusers, which is commendable. Throwing out the amendment in its entirely would mean that to avoid a potentially devastating policy for Turkey’s street dogs, improvements to anti-cruelty legislation will also be thwarted.
This is a shame, but by no means an end to animal welfare and anti-cruelty policy improvements in Turkey. The passage of No.5199 in 2004 showed Turkish citizens to be people who care about animal welfare, and I can only hope that the spirit and compassion which drove that initial legislation will once again be harnessed into finding humane solutions for the people and dogs of their country.
-- HL
Source: IFAW