Stray Animals in Turkiye

I am happy to be on a platform where I can share the problem of stray animals, which has been going on for years and is getting more and more serious.


Turkiye has a large population of stray animals, with 10 million according to unofficial estimates, mainly consisting of cats in urban areas and dogs in rural regions. Considering that the population of Turkey is 85 million people, you can imagine how high the stray animal population is.

Having a pet is not very common in Turkiye due to religious beliefs and lifestyle. Most of the people who want to have a pet buy breed animals from breeders even though it is unethical.

In the recent past, the sale of cats and dogs in pet shops was banned in Turkiye. Breeding farms started to be subject to inspections.

News published in 2022 displayed below

The period of selling live animals in pet shops is coming to an end: 'The solution is to stop production and sales for a certain period of time'

https://sputniknews.com.tr/20220705/petshoplarda-canli-hayvan-satisi-donemi-bitiyor-cozum-uretim-ve-satisin-belli-sure-durdurulmasi-1058336168.html

high demand for breeding pets

We can say that this ban was almost ineffective. Breed cat and dog production continued at the same pace. In many facilities, animals were tortured and ill-treated. Although these are known facts, people did not give up their breed enthusiasm.

Let me tell you why the production of breed cats and dogs and the demand for this trade is important. For some reason, breed pets are seen as a high statue symbol and are used for this purpose. For many people, however, they represent nothing more than a whim. Nothing more than a toy to throw away when they get bored.

When we look at the streets, we see that many breed animals are abandoned, which is why breeding is one of the most important causes of the stray animal problem in Turkey.

Since the subject is very serious and long, I will end my article here for now. In the next section, we will discuss the problem of stray animals with other factors and suggestions for solutions.

Thank you for reading