As violent dog attacks continue to make headlines almost every day, Turkey’s efforts for sterilization, viewed as a solution to the problem, continues. Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirişçi attended an event at an animal shelter on Monday and said the number of sterilized animals was "still low."

Keeping tabs on the animal populations is essential for the country, where stray animals proliferate amid a culture of tolerance and random dumping of unwanted pets by their owners. This culture of tolerance, however, started evolving into an outcry over animal attacks, particularly by stray dogs freely roaming the streets in big cities. Burak Şekerci was the latest victim. The 8-year-old boy was flying a kite when dogs attacked and mauled him in the Çubuk district of the capital Ankara on Sunday. A passerby rescued the boy, who was hospitalized with injuries to the head and other parts of his body.

Kirişçi said Turkey has some 10 million stray animals. "Local administrations (municipalities) have sterilized some 200,000 animals so far. This is insufficient. Our aim is to reach at least 2 million," Kirişçi told reporters during the event at the animal shelter in Ankara’s Mamak district. "Any delay will make this desired number very low (compared to the overall population)," he warned.

Municipalities are chiefly responsible for rounding up stray animals, especially dogs, from the streets and sterilizing them. Some are harbored at shelters while others are released back into the streets, with tags attached to their ears. The event attended by Kirişçi aims to mobilize more municipalities to launch sterilization campaigns for stray animals.

Kirişçi said that the process has "became corrupted" in animal rights in Turkey. He reiterated that Turkey, throughout its history, has set examples for the preservation and protection of animals through foundations it set up exclusively for strays, but the country has nowadays found itself in a debate "on whether we should have laws to protect the animals or laws to protect ourselves from animals."

The minister added that they allocated a budget of TL 40 million ($2.71 million) this year for this issue and were supporting municipalities both for shelters and rehabilitation.