Abstract:

The harm that stray dogs cause directly or indirectly to humans and other living things, such as other dogs and cats, has recently become an important problem in Turkey. An understanding has begun to settle in the society that these animals should be kept in animal shelters due to the danger they pose, and that they should not be left outside. However, the provisions of the legislation regulating the interventions to stray dogs, which we examined in our study, stipulate that these animals cannot be kept in animal shelters permanently. In the legislation, important obligations have been imposed on local administrations in interventions to stray dogs. Local administrations, which make the necessary interventions to stray dogs, will kill these animals if the necessary conditions are met to kill them or leave them in the environment they take. In addition, municipalities will try to adopt stray dogs, if they cannot, they will leave them in their environment and help the animals to be fed. Stray dogs are also creatures that have the right to life like humans and need to be rescued from bad living conditions. Keeping these animals in the animal shelter permanently is both very difficult in the face of the large number of animals and is a negative behavior for the animals who are deprived of their freedom. The obligations of local administrations regarding stray dogs in the legislation are insufficient to provide the desired living environment for both humans and stray dogs. The legislation on stray dogs should be reconsidered in line with the needs and the obligations of local administrations should be regulated in an understandable language and in detail, taking into account scientific facts. Otherwise, problems with stray dogs will continue to exist.

Keywords: