Turkey’s parliament approved on Monday a move to euthanise some of the country’s four million stray dogs, a measure opponents say could lead to a vast animal cull.
The controversial article, part of a draft law on the fate of the animals, says those who are sick or deemed aggressive must be put down.
The rest of the bill is being debated today and expected to be adopted in the next few days.
The government says the euthanasia clause is needed to prevent dog attacks and the spread of rabies.
It says the other homeless dogs should be captured en masse, placed in animal shelters and put up for adoption.
Critics say relying on animal sanctuaries and adoption is ultimately unworkable because of the numbers involved.
Animal rights campaigners, who fear the draft law is a cover for a huge cull despite government denials, instead advocate a mass sterilisation campaign.
MPs began examining the 17-clause bill on Sunday, when deputies opposed to the measure protested by putting on white gloves stained with fake blood.
The emotional debate has revived memories of a 1910 tragedy when the Ottoman authorities rounded up around 60,000 stray dogs in Istanbul and sent them to a deserted rock in the Sea of Marmara.
With nothing else to eat, the dogs tore each other to pieces.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said ahead of the debate that Turkey faced a problem “like no other civilised country” and which was “growing exponentially”.
The president, whose conservative AKP party and its allies hold an absolute majority in parliament, said on Wednesday people wanted “safe streets”.
The opposition Republican People’s Party, which controls Istanbul and other major cities, has said its mayors will not apply the law if it is passed.
Demonstrations have taken place in recent weeks, including inside parliament.
The euthanasia clause adopted on Monday says dogs will be put down if they “present a danger to the life or health of people and animals, display uncontrollable negative behaviour, have a contagious or incurable disease or whose adoption is forbidden”.
The government has said mayors who refuse to carry out the law could be jailed.
It has banned visitors’ access to parliament to avoid further protests.
