Defenders of the Right to Life in Izmir came together in front of Alsancak Train Station on the occasion of October 4, World Animal Rights Day.
The group marched to Kıbrıs Şehitleri Street, chanting slogans such as "Let your laws go down, let the animals live" and "Smash the cages inside and outside" and made a press statement in front of the Türkan Saylan Cultural Center.
“WE WILL NOT GIVE UP THE RIGHTS TO LIVE”
Melike Özdemir, lawyer of the Izmir Bar Association Animal Rights Commission, said the following in her statement:
"We do not celebrate October 4, which is celebrated as the World Animal Day. Because today in Turkey, animals are not protected, they are torn away from their streets, neighborhoods and living spaces, closed and killed. The regulation that came into force on August 2, 2024 has already lost its claim to protect animals. All over the country, dogs are injured and dying while being collected with cruel methods, and they are left to hunger, disease and violence in nursing homes with inadequate capacity, personnel and veterinary services. Animals that need to be treated are killed, deaths are considered 'diseases'." Effective control and accountability is not provided even in the face of claims that it is ignored. This is not about protecting animals. Any policy that sees eliminating animals from the streets of a country cannot be accepted as a humane, scientific and legal solution. Therefore, we do not want to correct the current regulation, but a new law that truly protects animals.
We want a law that is based on sterilization, vaccination and keeping alive in situ, prevents abandonment, prohibits production and trade, imposes clear responsibilities on municipalities, does not leave violations unpunished and does not leave the life of any animal to the discretion of the administration, and protects the rights and freedoms of all species of animals. Eliminate not the animals, but this system that drives them to death. We have only one request on October 4: We want a new law called the Animal Rights Law, which protects rather than collects, lets people live rather than confines them, is based on life rather than killing. The animals of this country are not alone and defenseless. “We will not give up their right to life.”
“WHERE ARE THESE COLLECTED DOGS”
Pınar Alp Asil, one of the Izmir Right to Life Defenders, reacted to the current law and said:
"October 4 is the day when we remember the right to life of animals that experience pain, fear, love and life just like us. But we did not gather here today to remember. Today we gathered to hold them to account. Because 2 years ago in this country, despite the objections and struggles of all rights defenders, scientists, lawyers and veterinarians, a Slaughter Law was passed by the Parliament with the votes of AKP and MHP, accompanied by laughter. Before the law, rational and rational laws such as 'neuter, vaccinate, keep them alive' were passed by the Parliament with the votes of AKP and MHP. Local governments, which never applied scientific methods and used the budgets allocated for this in different areas, started collecting animals from the streets without supervision and confining them to death camps called shelters until 2028. While the current law foresees first the construction of shelters and then collection, the governments, encouraged by the government's policies of impunity, continued to openly commit crimes.
According to official records, the total shelter capacity is expressed as 413 thousand, while according to association reports, we see that the number does not exceed 200 thousand. Against the number of 1,400 provincial and district municipalities, the number of facilities is between 234-322. While it was stated that the number of dogs collected in the last 1.5 years was 1 million 200 thousand, Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi said with great pride in his speech on September 27, 2026 that 99.6 percent of the animals were collected and that they reached the target in 79 of 81 provinces. From here we ask him: Where are these dogs collected when the capacity figures are like this?"
“ANIMAL LIVES ARE NOT MATERIALS FOR YOUR POLITICAL CALCULATIONS”
Stating that the law also makes the right to life defenders a target, Right to Life Defender Melodi Zengin said:
"This law, passed under the excuse of 'safe streets', has targeted not only the animals living on the streets, but also the defenders of the right to life who stand next to them. Unfortunately, this systematically applied cruelty is not limited to the animals living on the streets. Illegal animal production in underground places, although it is prohibited by law, businesses that support them with sales, illegal hunting tenders opened for wild animals that we try to keep alive during forest fires, aquariums, dolphin parks, circuses and zoos in the name of entertainment. Animals that are forcibly held captive in narrow cages in so-called prisons and forced to fight under the name of festivals... All of these areas of exploitation are proof of how much the rights of animals to live are violated every day, every minute. On October 4, we once again say clearly to the government, the municipalities and everyone who is a partner in the implementation of this policy: Animal lives are not the material of your political calculations. We are especially calling out to those who call themselves the opposition; While you were slaughtering us, you became the secret partner of the government and left us alone despite all your promises. Today, we, who stand together for the right to life of animals, will tomorrow stand side by side in the fight against the women you try to imprison in family laws, the LGBTI+ people you put at the center of hate policies for the so-called safety of those families, the retired people who try to live on the poverty line, and the miners who are sent to die underground because it is in their nature to do so. Because our side is clear: Death, hatred and oppression. "We are not on the side of life, freedom and solidarity."
Animal lovers formed a "human chain" on Kıbrıs Şehitleri Street after the press release.
