AKP's Kirişçi sets Haniyeh condition for animal lovers

Vahit Kirişci, an AKP member and Chairman of the Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs Commission, made a curious speech regarding the law that paves the way for the slaughter of stray animals.

Reminding that the law containing regulations for stray animals has entered into force, Kirişci wished God's mercy upon those who lost their lives as a result of attacks by stray animals and healing to those who were injured.

Stating that for the first time in Turkey, a law regarding the protection of animals has been introduced into the legislation, Kirişci said, "You would appreciate that in a state of law, it is the laws that are binding."

Stating that with the laws enacted during the AK Party period, animals were removed from the status of property or goods and brought to the status of living beings, Kirişci continued as follows:

"So, what was missing in the previous law? Perhaps it is worth touching upon this in a few points. First of all, the fact that streets are now a common living space for humans, animals, and all other types of our material and spiritual assets. These were taken into account. But due to the method applied here, the streets had ceased to be a safe area. This had to be ensured in some way. Secondly, in the regulations in the law, both in 2004 and 2021, certain responsibilities were given to local administrations, but the mechanisms regarding their supervision remained insufficient, or it evolved into a process where those who wanted to do something could not realize what they wanted to do, especially due to the narrow interpretation of some parts of the legislation. Therefore, along with these deficiencies, there was also an insufficiency regarding the release of owned animals onto the streets, and because of this, the increase in the animal population on the streets became inevitable."

Implication that 'they only live for two years on average'

Stating that the regulation is an adoption and life-sustaining law, Kirişci made the following assessment:

This is not as alleged; on the contrary, instead of catch, neuter, release, it is catch, neuter, keep, and adopt. There are necessary regulations regarding animals that have untreatable diseases or carry epidemic diseases among them. There, a euthanasia procedure will be carried out under veterinary control. Therefore, this should not be ignored either. If they really think that animals on the street live in a healthy environment, I would like to mention a figure through you. The average lifespan of animals on the street is only 2 years. But if we take them, neuter them, rehabilitate them, and ensure they are kept in shelters until they are adopted, owned dogs can live for about 15-16 years. Therefore, why do they oppose this law when there is a chance to increase 2 years to 15 years? I leave that to the appreciation of our noble nation. There are those who say, 'The only solution is neutering,' which is true. Neutering is one of the solutions, but it is not a solution on its own. Because if you do not increase neutering to over 70 percent in the current population, the population will continue to increase. Because the reproductive capabilities of stray dogs are extremely high.

'Despite their masters...'

Saying, "Those who cannot call Netanyahu 'murderer Netanyahu,' who is the murderer of 40 thousand people, 16 thousand of whom are children, and those who do not condemn the fact that we lost Ismail Haniyeh, have no right to stand up and talk about love for dogs or love for animals," Kirişci ended his words with these sentences:

I would like to take this opportunity to say that despite all kinds of ugliness, the 'parliamentary chatter' displayed in the Parliament garden, the deputies who do not comply with parliamentary traditions, those who go so far as to call people murderers in the corridors of the Parliament, and their masters, this law has, thank God, passed through our Parliament with the votes of both AK Party and Nationalist Movement Party deputies and has been enacted. Today, it has been published in the Official Gazette and has now entered into force. I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow deputies who contributed, the staff, and everyone who contributed positively to this issue.

News Source: 12punto