Shelter in municipality run by Erdoğan’s party accused of mass killing of stray animals

An animal shelter in northwestern Turkey run by a Justice and Development Party (AKP) municipality has come under fire due to allegations of the killing of dozens of dogs and cats, Turkish Minute reported on Friday.

The allegations that a rehabilitation center for street animals in the municipality of Gebze in Kocaeli province euthanized 30 dogs and 13 cats and disposed of their bodies in garbage bags were initially made by a local animal rights group, the Kocaeli Friends of Nature and Animal Association (KOHAYDER).

The association shared a video on X showing trash bags in containers near the shelter containing deceased animals, along with vials and syringes typically used for administering euthanasia. Some animals found in the bags were still alive and struggling to breathe.

The animal killings sparked outrage among a number of opposition politicians and animal rights advocates on social media, where they used the hashtags #GebzeBelediyesi (Gebze Municipality) and #GebzedeKatliamVar (There is a slaughter in Gebze).

Semra Çelikkaya, the president of KOHAYDER, told Bianet that they had been feeding the animals found dead in trash containers every day, adding that they had all been in good health.

“We caught them in the act,” Çelikkaya said, claiming that the Gebze Municipality regularly kills animals but that they were only able to expose the situation today. She also vowed to take legal action against municipal officials for the killing of the animals.

Nimet Özdemir, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), visited the site on Friday and condemned the killings, saying that they took place in line with growing acts of violence in the country, referring to recent incidents involving women and children.

“The same brutality that destroys our sons and daughters is now destroying these innocent animals. Violence breeds violence and it must stop,” Özdemir said in a video message on X.

Lütfü Türkkan, the Kocaeli lawmaker from the nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party, also reacted to the slaughter on social media, calling on Gebze Mayor Zinnur Büyükgöz to provide an explanation.

“You have deliberately created this situation. … Repeal the law and implement solutions that prioritize the right to life. Enough is enough,” Perihan Koca, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), said in a tweet.

She was referring to a controversial law passed by parliament and signed into effect by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on August 2, which allows municipalities to euthanize stray dogs deemed aggressive or ill. The legislation, which also mandates improvements to animal shelters by 2028, has sparked widespread protests from animal rights groups, who argue that it will pave the way for the mass euthanasia of stray dogs.

Meanwhile, the Gebze Municipality in a statement on Friday described the images of the deceased stray animals as “unacceptable,” claiming that the animals were lifeless when their bodies were collected from the streets, with some having died due to traffic accidents and others due to illness.

The municipality also said the Gebze Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has initiated an investigation into the incident and that the relevant shelter officials have been suspended until the investigation is completed.

There was also another report of animal violence on Friday.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that 11 dogs were found dead in the Dörtyol district of Hatay. The dogs are suspected of having been poisoned, Anadolu said, adding that the gendarmerie has initiated an investigation into the incident.

The Gebze and Hatay incidents are among several reported in recent weeks. Mass killings of stray dogs have also been reported in Niğde and Ankara provinces in municipalities run by the AKP.

Although the municipalities deny any wrongdoing, the controversy surrounding the new law and the discoveries of dog carcasses have intensified the debate over how Turkey should address its stray dog population, estimated to be around 4 million. Animal rights activists continue to call for mass sterilization instead of euthanasia to control stray dogs, warning that the current approach could lead to further abuse.