Street dogs targeted in nationwide inspections as ministry teams prepare reports

Street dogs are becoming the focus of a nationwide inspection campaign. The Interior Ministry and the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry have assigned inspectors to all 81 provinces to examine how local authorities handle the issue.

The inspectors will travel through the provinces during September and prepare reports on areas that fail to comply with the relevant regulations. Their checks will cover governorships, metropolitan municipalities, provincial and district municipalities, and special provincial administrations.

Information gathered in the field will be sent to Ankara. Officials will identify neglect, operational shortcomings and regions acting outside the law, according to the report. The two ministries are creating a joint inspection mechanism for the work.

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi previously said that all dogs on the streets would be collected by the end of 2026 and that 97% had already been collected. Animal-rights advocates, however, have highlighted the shortage of shelters and allegations that animals left hungry in enclosure areas have eaten one another.