Statement from Mayor Kurnaz regarding the 9 dogs that died: There will be no mistreatment of animals

On the evening of Monday, November 24, 9 dead dogs were found in a trash container on Kurtuluş Road in the Kadamut neighborhood of Samsun's İlkadım district. Following this development, the Samsun Governor's Office announced that judicial and administrative investigations had been launched into the death of the animals. After the incident, some animal lovers and CHP council members of the İlkadım Municipality gathered in front of the İlkadım Municipality Animal Living Space and wanted to enter, but the gendarmerie did not allow them to do so.

"They toured our animal living space 20 days ago"

Reacting to those trying to politicize the incident, İlkadım Mayor İhsan Kurnaz said, "It saddened me greatly to see the provocative attitude of not only some animal lovers but also some political parties. Our friends, including CHP council members, toured and saw our animal living space just 20 days ago," he stated.

Kurnaz continued: "If we had a mindset that harms animals, we would not be the district that invests the most in an animal living space among the 17 districts in Samsun. We have spent millions of liras so that our animals do not suffer or go hungry on the streets.

We are preparing a very beautiful living space for them. We are still continuing to complete it. We finished one section and started hosting our animals there, and we are taking care of them in the best way possible. Some council members saw this with their own eyes.

It saddened me deeply that this situation was dragged into a political arena as if there were mistreatment of animals. Because there is one thing I always say: The lives of animals are entrusted to us. We will answer to God for this tomorrow. We hold this belief. No one can harm any living creature where I am. That is why we are making a great effort and spending large sums of money so that our animals do not suffer."

"We will share everything with the public along with the report"

Pointing out that the death of the dogs affected him as deeply as everyone else, Mayor Kurnaz said, "The images we saw two days ago also pained me deeply. The very next morning, I gave instructions asking, 'Is this caused by us, how did this happen?' and we launched an examination and opened an investigation. We took the statements of all personnel working in the animal living space one by one. Our inspection board will complete its report today.

We will share why this incident happened, how such a scene emerged, and whether it was caused by our staff once the report is revealed. Yesterday, I officially notified our district governor's office and our governor's office that we had launched an investigation. Our citizens and animal lovers should rest assured; where we are, there is never any mistreatment of animals, and there is no ill-intentioned approach. But there may be those who want to drag this into a political arena; I will never allow that. I invite all animal lovers to our animal living space," he said.

"We will do whatever is necessary"

Stating that necessary actions will be taken in the event of possible negligence, Kurnaz said, "We do not perform treatment or sterilization there. We have an agreement with our Metropolitan Municipality; they handle treatment, sterilization, and disease care. We perform daily maintenance and feeding. If an animal gets sick, we take it to the metropolitan shelter. The Metropolitan Municipality has built an exemplary shelter in Turkey. We also want our living space to be an exemplary place. We have just started, we may have shortcomings, but we will quickly resolve these and take care of our animals. We will both prevent our animals from suffering, getting sick, and staying in the cold on the streets, and we will ensure the safety of our people, our children, our pregnant women, and our elderly.

As a municipality, it is our duty to do both. We will both ensure that animals do not go hungry or suffer, and we will protect the safety of people living on the streets. But it is being dragged to a point as if there is systematic torture here... If we were going to torture a living creature, why would we collect it and bring it to our own area? This is contrary to reason and logic. It is unthinkable for a municipality that spends millions of liras for its animals to do such a thing. Today's statements saddened me greatly, but we will definitely not allow this. If there is any negligence by our employees, we will not tolerate it either. The images pained all of us, and they pained me too. If it is determined at the end of the report that someone is at fault, that person can never continue to work in the animal living space. Our animal lovers and citizens should be at ease regarding this matter. I have been following the developments moment by moment since the night of November 24. When the report comes out, as the Mayor of İlkadım, we will do whatever is necessary," he said.