Efforts from Osmangazi to protect both the community and animals

Osmangazi Municipality, amidst the ongoing discussions about possible changes in the Animal Protection Law that have been causing intense debates lately, protects both community safety and the lives of animal friends by conducting sterilization, adoption, and rehabilitation efforts for stray animals.
The issue of stray dogs has been a hot topic on the country’s agenda recently. Draft laws being prepared regarding stray dogs, which have become a social issue due to attack incidents in various cities, have sparked debates. The draft law is said to involve the collection of street dogs and their euthanization if not adopted for a certain period. The upcoming draft law expected to be presented to the parliament has received backlash from animal lovers.
Ensuring the safety of people while protecting the right to life of animal friends
Both the attacks by stray dogs and the potential moral discomfort that would arise if changes in the Animal Protection Law are accepted highlight the importance of the efforts carried out by Osmangazi Municipality regarding stray animals. Osmangazi Municipality, by preventing stray animals from being a danger to society through sterilization, adoption, and rehabilitation efforts conducted for years at the Stray Animals Natural Life and Treatment Center, also protects the right to life of animal friends by avoiding the increasing reactions towards stray animals.
Aggressive dogs are kept under control in shelters
Municipal teams put forth more effort after attack incidents. Patrolling the streets constantly to search for aggressive breed dogs, the teams also investigate the reports received from citizens. Stray dogs roaming the streets are caught using sedatives and taken to the Stray Animals Natural Life and Treatment Center after the initial examination by a veterinarian. Dogs spending the rest of their lives in shelters do not pose a danger to citizens.
1402 animals were sterilized, 276 animals were adopted
In the Osmangazi Municipality Stray Animals Natural Life and Treatment Center, which is the most modern animal shelter in Europe, 1402 stray animals were sterilized in the first 5 months of 2024. 276 stray animals were sterilized, vaccinated, and adopted. Surgeries or conservative treatments were applied to 2,646 stray animals. Providing food support for animal friends, Osmangazi Municipality consumed a total of 36 tons of dry food to feed the animals inside the shelter and on the streets.
“We do not want any lives to be lost”
Osmangazi Mayor Erkan Aydın also commented on the new legal regulations regarding animals: “In January 2020, when I was also a member of parliament, the Animal Protection Law was brought to the parliament. A research commission was established. It worked for 3 months. At the end of this, a draft was brought. The law was enacted. Now this law seems insufficient. It has been opened for discussion in the public opinion. We do not want any of our citizens, children, or elderly to lose their lives due to these stray dogs. This issue must be addressed. There were important recommendations in the research report put forward at that time. It was proposed to establish a fund to fight for animal rights. A fund will be established with the revenues from property, environmental, cleaning taxes paid by municipalities, as well as revenues from gambling, and the income collected in this fund will be used for sterilizing street animals. When sterilization is not done, rapid reproduction occurs. When there is no adoption, the capacity of animal shelters becomes insufficient.
“Animals should not be euthanized, they should be sterilized and adopted”
Stressing that they provide service for both the safety of the community and the health of stray animals at the Osmangazi Municipality Natural Life and Treatment Center established on a 114-acre land in Hamitler, Mayor Aydın said, “We find euthanizing wrong. We find sterilization and adoption correct. If every animal is effectively sterilized, the population decreases. Let the proposal previously prepared in the parliament be implemented. Let a fund be established. There are no resources in municipalities, but if there is a transfer of funds in proportion to the city’s population from this fund, the fight can easily be carried out.”
“Street animals are a part of our lives”
Emphasizing that street animals, like every living being, deserve to live, Mayor Aydın said, “Our animal friends are living beings that make our lives more beautiful. Instead of euthanizing street animals, which are a part of our world, cities, and lives, we should aim to improve their living conditions, provide them with a better life, and reduce the problems in society.”