The increasing number of attacks by stray dogs has prompted concerns in Turkey, while some activists continue to urge authorities to step up efforts for the sterilization of animals as a solution.
Dogs invariably target children, and the death of a girl crushed by a truck as she was fleeing aggressive dogs stirred up the public outcry against dog attacks. In the latest incident, a man escaped with injuries from an attack by a pack of dogs in the Istanbul suburb of Başakşehir.
Birgül Rona, head of an animal protection association, says sterilization should be “a state policy” to address the issue. “Otherwise, it would take years,” she warned. Rona chairs the Turkish Society for Protection of Animals, which traces its roots to Ottoman times and the efforts of American teacher Alice Manning, then an instructor at Istanbul’s Robert College. Istanbul, formerly the capital of the Ottoman Empire, was thriving with stray dogs and cats. It still has one of the highest numbers of stray animals. Though not all attacks are in Istanbul, packs of stray dogs are becoming more common in the city.
Rona says although a law enacted in 2004 assigned tasks and responsibilities to municipalities for protection of stray animals and paved the way for sterilization, the municipalities have been “negligent.”
“Certainly, sterilization is not an easy task. You need experienced staff and the staff to collect the dogs. Some municipalities complained of lack of financial resources and abstained from sterilization. They simply put the animals they picked off the streets in shelters and started dumping them in faraway places, remote, rural parts of cities when the shelters were filled. This was not the solution. Dogs continue breeding,” she told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday.
She noted that the stray dog “boom” stems from the number of puppies the dogs can give birth twice a year. “They can have 12 puppies a year, and the puppies themselves can give birth once they are 8 months old,” she noted. Rona pointed out that stray dogs were the most violent compared to other stray animals as they have less contact with humans. “They are constantly hungry and if they spot someone carrying a bag of food, they instinctively chase them,” she said.
Murat Güngör, a dog trainer, says stray animals were unpredictable, and people have to take their own measures when they come across a violent dog. “Dogs tend to stay away from people in more populated areas,” he said. Güngör also noted the lack of socialization between animals and humans may have contributed to acts of aggression.
Güngör ties the rise in the number of attacks to the rising number of stray dogs. “We had far less animals on the streets a decade ago and they were mostly content with food the butchers or animal lovers gave to them. But their number uncontrollably increased. One reason is the uncontrolled adoptions,” he said.
He blamed the majority of dog owners that abandoned the canines when they could not afford the time or money for their care. “You have to limit the pet ownership and shut down pet shops selling dogs. Some people buy dogs to breed them and sell their puppies and when they have too many, they abandon some. This also increases the number of stray dogs,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Güngör also noted that human behavior toward animals makes them more aggressive. “After all, people used to chase away animals by throwing stones at them in this country,” he lamented. Though Turkey has a longstanding tradition for exemplary care of cats and dogs, acts of torture of animals are still frequent. “Dogs looking for food on the streets come across different people, from those hurling stones at them to others running after them. When they face a hostile interaction, they treat non-hostile people the same,” he said.
