Turkey ramps up enforcement of breed ban, groups protest

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Animal rights group says it will go to court to revoke Turkish ban on attack dogs

By The Associated Press (CP) – 1 day ago

ANKARA, Turkey — An animal rights group says it will go to court over a recent Turkish government ban on certain dog breeds in the wake of an attack that injured a father and son.

Nesrin Citirik, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of Animals and Nature, said Wednesday the government must find ways to curb illegal breeding of so-called attack dogs instead of punishing their owners.

She says her association will petition the prosecutor’s office on Friday to revoke the ban.

On Tuesday, a stray pit bull bit and slightly injured the father and son as they strolled in the western city of Izmir.

The government measure bans importing pit bull terriers, Brazilian mastiff, Japanese tosas and the Dogo Argentino breeds into Turkey.

Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Dog experts bite back at Turkey’s pit bull ban

Tuesday, June 29, 2010
ISTANBUL – Daily News with wires

Taking calm dogs that have never caused harm to anyone from their owners just because they are pit bulls is illogical, an expert says.

The government’s issuing of orders to round up pit bulls and other “dangerous” breeds was an unfortunate, unscientific decision, experts have said, calling for assessments of individual dogs rather than a total ban.

“Dogs of all breeds rather than just a specific few must take temperament tests, and those categorized as dangerous must be forbidden and taken under supervision,” said Tamer Dodurka, a professor at Istanbul University’s Veterinary Faculty, daily Milliyet reported Tuesday.

Taking calm dogs that have never caused harm to anyone from their owners just because they are pit bulls is illogical, Dodurka said, adding that the country’s animal shelters are already full of dogs and will not accept animals of the four breeds banned by authorities.

Following a call for action by the Parliamentary Committee for Petitions based on complaints from members of the public, the ministries responsible for internal affairs, environment and agriculture recently circulated a memorandum to all governors’ offices around the country. The offices were ordered to actively enforce an animal-protection law passed in June 2004 that made it illegal to own, breed, sell, import, gift, exchange or advertise pit bulls and similar dogs. The new orders included instructions to impound pit bulls, fine their owners more than 3,400 Turkish Liras and keep the dogs from fighting one another. They also included a ban on the sale of the animals over the Internet.

“I was petrified when I saw the photographs of people who had been bitten [by these dogs],” said Yahya Akman, the chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Petitions, daily Milliyet reported in an earlier story Sunday.

The legal prohibitions issued against dangerous breeds of dogs in the past were not effectively implemented, Akman said, adding that no more excuses should be made for animals that scare and harm people.

Speaking during a Monday visit to the northeastern province of Erzurum, Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroğlu said the dogs subject to the ban had mauled children and bit many people, and were even used by mafia types as an intimidation tactic, the Doğan news agency reported Tuesday. According to the minister, the first step is to make a tally of these breeds in Turkey and then proceed with the other measures listed in the memo. The 2004 law included regulations on registering the ownership of dangerous dogs along with their sterilization and immunization records.

Professor Dodurka criticized the memorandum released by the ministries, saying it represented a poor decision without any scientific basis, especially at a time when other countries are realizing that blanket bans have not decreased the number of attacks by dangerous animals and are preparing to rescind such laws.

According to Dodurka, who is also the chair of the Friends of Living Creatures Association, some of the four banned breeds have never even been seen by the parliamentary committee members who decided to prohibit them. There are no Japanese Tosa in Turkey and only four dogs of the Brazilian mastiff breed, he said, adding that dogs of the Dogo Argentino breed, also known as the “white angel,” are mild animals often kept as pets by families.

The ban on these dogs and pit bulls will not stop betting on dog fights in the country either, Dodurka said, adding that gamblers will find other breeds to pit against each other. “The ban will not keep them from betting [on dog fights], only the name of the ‘heroes’ will change,” he said.

Since the ban was first announced, the number of pit bulls in Turkey has increased rather than decreased, Dodurka added, noting that a similar phenomenon was also observed in other countries that approved similar restrictions, such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which have now either rescinded their bans or are discussing doing so.

Official notice to vets and animal hospitals

As part of the three ministries’ initiative, the Agriculture Ministry ordered the 51 associations affiliated with the Turkish Veterinarian Union and all the provincial directorates of agriculture to inform all veterinary clinics, polyclinics and animal hospitals about the decision made by Parliament. The ministry had previously notified veterinary surgeons, pet-shop owners and animal-breeding farms that keeping and breeding pit bulls and similar animals is forbidden.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry also contacted the Turkish Veterinarian Union, as well as the country’s universities, asking them to report the address and identity information of dangerous dogs brought to clinics and animal hospitals.

Precautions to be taken

In order to inform dog owners and the rest of the public about the new provisions, 20,000 posters and 30,000 leaflets will be sent to governor’s offices around the country to distribute.

Attacks by pit bulls have led the ownership of these and other breeds of dog exhibiting aggressive tendencies to be forbidden or limited in many countries. The U.K. and Denmark ban them entirely, as do some parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.