Turks stray dogs problem

4 million dogs!?

Stray dogs are estimated four million that make up the country’s street-dog population.

Bill to get dogs off the street

Lawmakers from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) are working on a new bill aimed at getting dogs off the streets.

Euthanize not adopted until 30 days

The law could require municipalities to collect stray dogs, shelter them for around 30 days, and if the animals are not adopted in that time, euthanise them.

One third municipalities have shelters

Only about one third of the nation’s provincial and district municipalities have shelters, which means the remaining dogs fate are at the hands of authorities.

Especially in small municipalities, there are neither shelters nor sufficient employment of veterinarians

Catch and Release Protocol

• one of the problems with an existing law, which requires dogs to be sterilised and then returned to the streets where they lived.
• In order to manage the animal population, street dogs needed to be collected, sterilised, given some vaccinations, and then released back to the street.

Animals microchipped

Although animals are microchipped and registered in a centralised database, officials needed to be better at following through with fines for owners when animals were found to have been thrown out on the street

55 death over past 5 years

over the past five years, street dogs have contributed to 55 deaths, more than 5,000 injuries, and 3,500 traffic accidents. BBC

January 2026

Plans to exterminate 3 millions dogs by Morocco government

FIFA 2030 - co host

• Homeless cats and dogs in Morocco are being shot, poisoned, and left to die in cages without food or water, as the country is preparing to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup football tournament.
• Mass killings are reportedly being carried out to beautify the host cities as Morocco prepares to join Spain and Portugal in hosting the tournament.
• The Moroccan government is reportedly planning to exterminate 99% of all homeless dogs, approximately 3 million of them, across the country.
• Authorities have used public health as an excuse for the slaughter, but previously pledged to implement sterilization and vaccination programs to control the spread of rabies.

International Animal Welfare and Protection Coalition

• An International Animal Welfare and Protection Coalition believes Morocco has followed a disturbing pattern of behavior over recent years.
• Each time it prepares for a party that involves visitors from other regions of its home continent and beyond, local authorities massacre animals. The coalition argues that organizations such as FIFA are not giving the killing orders but are enabling them.
• The Coalition argues that culling does not work, instead creating a vacuum effect.
• Removing a portion of dog population only creates an artificial, temporary space that is quickly filled by new, often unvaccinated and unsterilized, animals.

TNBR programme in 2019 by Morocco

The TNBR (Trap - Neuter - Vaccines - Return) Program earned public support from the Moroccan government in 2019, and the country claims to have spent heavily on control centers since. Many questions where that money has gone?

Law pending since 2025

The Moroccan government drafted a law in mid-2025 which was meant to address the issues around the stray dogs. That law was redrafted in October, and was supposed to start to pass through the parliament. But there have been no evidence of progress.

Prison for both feeding and killing stray dogs?

• In August 2025, Morocco proposed a bill that would mean prison sentences of between two to six months as well as fines ranging from $500 to $2,000 for anyone who intentionally kills, tortures, or injures stray animals in any manner.
• Yet the bill also stipulates that anyone who is caught sheltering, feeding, or treating stray animals would be fined $50, with potential prison terms for repeated offenders.

PETA

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has since highlighted the mass slaughter of dogs, pointing towards a breach of contract. There is potentially much to lose for Morocco.

Committment as a part of bidding process

As a part of the bidding process for the FIFA World Cup 2030, the Moroccan government bid outlined its commitment to the protection of animal rights and highlighted that governmental resources are being allocated to expand cleaning and support programs for stray dogs.