TV presenter and wildlife campaigner Chris Packham , model Heather Mills and actor Peter Egan are urging Turkey to reject new legislation that aims to regulate the country’s stray dogs.
Animal rights advocates are concerned that Turkish municipalities might kill dogs on the pretext that they are ill, rather than allocate resources to shelter them, under the new bill.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains “Turkey has a stray dog problem” and dogs “attack children, adults, elderly people and other animals, they attack flocks of sheep and goats, they cause traffic accidents”.
Packham posted a video on Twitter, in which he appeared alongside his poodle Nancy.
The Springwatch co-host, 63, said: “I love my dogs. I love animals. I love all life. At the moment in Turkey, there is the potential for an absolute travesty when it comes to animal welfare.
“Millions of cats and dogs could be unnecessarily murdered… So can Nancy and I please both ask you to take action?”
He encouraged followers to sign a petition, along with a letter that asked “them to please not kill all of these beautiful cats and dogs”.
Downton Abbey star Egan, best known as Paul Ryman in the classic sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles, called it an “urgent appeal for the whole world”.
The 77-year-old actor also said: “We cannot allow this to happen… Stop this appalling crime happening.”
Mills, 56, said: “The bill must be stopped.”
She said: “Even healthy, non-aggressive animals could be killed, while animal production and cruelty go unchecked. Join me and Animal Save Movement in urging Turkey’s MPs to vote no.”
The campaign against the bill is co-ordinated by the Animal Save Movement.
The Turkish Government , which estimates that there are four million stray dogs in the country, says the proposed legislation mandates that municipalities collect stray dogs and house them in shelters where they would be neutered and spayed.
It also says that dogs that are in pain, terminally ill, pose a health risk to humans or are aggressive would be euthanised and there would be a requirement for improved shelters, according to the AP news agency.
Mayors who fail to meet their responsibilities in controlling stray dogs would face imprisonment of six months to two years.
Fines on people who abandon pets would be raised from 2,000 lira (£47) to 60,000 lira (£42).
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