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STORY: :: Animal activists are criticizing Turkey's

plan to euthanize unadopted stray dogs

:: Istanbul, Turkey

:: Nilgul Sayar, Animal Rights Activist

:: "(The municipalities) say they will collect the dogs from the streets, but there is no capacity to take them all. A group of dogs will be collected and kept for 30 days, and if not adopted, they will be euthanized. Will the municipal teams, who have not even done their duty to neuter them, work for the adoption of these animals? Of course not.”

:: Ahmet Kemal Senpolat, Animal Rights Federation Chairman

:: "We want the (stray) population to be decreased, but in a humane way. The only way is the trap and neuter system. You will trap, you will neuter, vaccinate, and let them live where they are living."

The bill, set to be presented to parliament in the coming days, has also drawn objections from the main opposition party, which is firmly opposed to dogs being put down.

Pro-government media have highlighted dog attacks and said the bill envisaged putting down stray dogs unclaimed after 30 days at a shelter. But a survey by pollster Metropoll said only 2.7% of respondents supported euthanization.

The government also cited a growing risk of rabies and said collisions with animals caused 3,500 road accidents in the last five years. State media cited a government survey saying 83.6% of respondents saw stray dogs as a problem.

But activists evoked a previous, grim attempt to deal with the issue in 1910, when 80,000 dogs were sent to an islet off Istanbul, dying of hunger, thirst or killing each other.

An average of 260,000 dogs were neutered annually in recent years, insufficient to have a significant impact.