AMED TIMES - The draft law amending Law No. 5199 on Animal Protection was submitted to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). The proposal was approved by the TBMM Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs Committee.
The law is expected to come into force in the near future after a vote in parliament.
Details of the regulation
The proposal will amend the Animal Welfare Act. The amendments provide for
The objectives of the Act will be amended to include the phrase “with regard to human, animal and environmental health”
To avoid confusion when dealing with stray animals and to allow cats and dogs to be classified as owned animals, registration in the database of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in accordance with the Act on Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food and Feed will be mandatory. The terms “owned animal” and “stray animal” are clearly defined.
To avoid ambiguity and due to the abolition of the “catch-neuter-release” method, the definition of an animal shelter is adapted. The definition is amended as follows: “A facility established with the approval of the Ministry where animals are housed and rehabilitated until they are adopted.”
The principle that you can only take care of animals if you adopt them with legal responsibility is accepted, as shelters are responsible for collecting and rehabilitating stray and weakened animals until they are adopted. The provision: “Pets have the right to live in conditions appropriate to their species. The lives of stray animals should be supported in the same way as those of owned animals” will be abolished.
The focus will be on encouraging and coordinating real and legal persons who wish to adopt stray and debilitated animals, without material gain or profit, solely on the basis of humanitarian and ethical responsibility.
Local governments, in cooperation with voluntary organizations, will set up animal shelters to care for, treat and educate stray animals until they are adopted.
Dogs that are rehabilitated in shelters will be housed there until they are adopted. To ensure accurate and up-to-date data, animals admitted to shelters are registered in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's data system.