As the Animal Rights Monitoring Committee (HAKIM), for the first time in Turkey, we have reported animal rights violations regardless of species, and we have worked to ensure that these violations result in sanctions.
As the Animal Rights Monitoring Committee (HAKIM), for the first time in Turkey, we have reported animal rights violations regardless of species, and we have worked to ensure that these violations result in sanctions.
TO THE PRESS AND PUBLIC,
14.04.2017
As the Animal Rights Monitoring Committee (HAKIM), for the first time in Turkey, we have reported animal rights violations regardless of species, and we have endeavored to ensure that these violations result in sanctions. We find the figures we are about to announce very important in terms of revealing how horrible and painful the domination of humanity over animals, social violence and genocide are, and making visible the cruelty inflicted on animals that are ignored by many segments of society.
When people think of animal rights in Turkey, they mostly think of cats and dogs, but millions of animals of different species have had their share of humanity's cruelty and continue to do so. We did not categorize the violations of rights as animal species because whether it is a human or any animal species, the pain, stress and fear experienced are the same...
Throughout 2016, the rights violations we reported are only those that were reported in the press, social media and those that were sanctioned, in other words, only those that could be recorded. Despite this, we know that in 2016 alone, millions of animals' rights, especially the right to life, were violated. There are millions of violations of rights that cannot be reported. Every day in slaughterhouses, shelters, dairy and egg farms, fishing, hunting, zoos, carriages and transportation, dolphin parks, animal circuses, fur farms, experimental laboratories, domestic and international animal transportation, silkworm farming, Unfortunately, the routine violence in beekeeping, insect collecting under the name of "bundling", frog and snail collecting, and the loss of life and suffering during conflicts, bombings and forest fires in our country could not be included in our reports. However, we know that tens of thousands of animals are subjected to systematic cruelty, rights violations and massacres every day in many facilities and businesses and in our daily lives. In the largest slaughterhouse in the Balkans in Tuzla, Istanbul, 2,000 sheep are slaughtered every day in this facility alone. Even in a minute, let alone a day, the cruelty inflicted on animals is horrendous.
In 2016 alone, AT LEAST 1 billion 156 million 407 thousand 473 (1.156.407.473) violations of the right to life were reported. In this category, killing for human interest and pleasure, intentional killing, killing with weapons, torture, poisoning, causing death due to negligence, traffic accidents, hunting massacres were reported. At LEAST 1 billion 106 million 235 thousand 358 (1.106.235.358) of the total number we reported in this category are violations of the right to life of chickens and turkeys who are condemned to live in tiny cages and sent to the slaughterhouse as an inevitable end in a very short period of time. The number of millions of male chicks in the egg industry who are strangled, pressed alive or dismembered to death because they do not have much economic return and are a burden to maintain is unknown. Of the violations of the right to life that we were able to report, AT LEAST 9,740,638 (9,740,638) are the right to life usurped from cattle, sheep, goats and buffaloes killed for meat in 2016. Although the number of animals slaughtered by hunters in 2016 is unknown, 7,796 animals were seized from hunters during inspections and controls, and at least 596 wild animals were killed by foreign and local hunters within the scope of the death trade called "hunting tourism". The same state of obscurity also exists in fur farms. Chinchillas and rabbits are being bred and slaughtered for their fur, which is on the rise in Turkey. On this occasion, we once again state that hunting, hunting tourism and fur should be banned immediately, as they both usurp the right to life and cause ecological destruction.
In 2016, AT LEAST 8,216,506 (8,216,506) cases of torture could be reported. In the cases we reported in this category, no distinction was made between psychological/physical violence. Animal rights violations that take place behind closed doors in commercial establishments that survive on exploitation and cruelty against animals take place under a great shield of protection, and it is almost impossible to access these data... 8,191,436 of the reported torture cases belong to cattle, sheep and goats that were subjected to physical and psychological torture while being transported within the country. The number of poultry transported in horrendous numbers is unknown, but as our reports show, thousands of poultry have lost their lives due to being trapped, crushed and suffocated in traffic accidents during transportation.
The routine violence experienced by animals exploited for the purpose of carrying loads and subjected to horrific torture while being exploited has not been reported. However, we know that in 2016 alone, 1540 horses were subjected to systematic torture in Adalar. Last week, the interior and surroundings of the horse slaughterhouse near Darıca Zoo, which was sealed off by animal rights activists, showed how many horses die while being exploited for transportation.
In 2016, the number of animals used, discarded and killed in experiments in Turkey has still not been announced. However, according to data from the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, between 2010 and 2015, 1 million 412,810 animals were subjected to horrible suffering in experiments. The 2014 Regulation on the Working Procedures and Principles of Animal Experimentation Ethics Committees paved the way for the use of animals on the streets in experiments. Although it is unclear where the 14,057 cats and dogs used in experiments between 2010 and 2014 were obtained from, it is highly likely that they were taken from the streets and shelters. This is because there is no facility or center in Turkey that supplies cats and dogs as experimental animals. We reiterate once again that animal experiments should be completely banned and alternative methods to animal experiments should be switched to urgently.
In 2016, AT LEAST 42,711,818 (42,711,818) cases of violation of bodily inviolability could be reported. Of this number, 153,597 were sterilization interventions on stray animals. It is unknown how many of these sterilized animals were released back to the streets where they lived, and how many of them are still alive. Except for certain municipalities, most local governments in Turkey employ veterinarians with no surgical experience, perform these serious operations without complying with even basic animal health principles, and thousands of animals die because they do not receive proper medical care due to mobile sterilization units operating in a manner approved by official authorities. In force for 13 years, the Law on the Protection of Animals has failed to protect the rights of even the most visible stray animals, and as of 2017, death cries continue to rise from a large number of the 231 active animal shelters. While there are many shelters in Turkey where animals die of starvation, dehydration, lack of general and medical care, no steps are taken to close or improve these shelters, or to prosecute those responsible. These facilities function as concentration and extermination camps, not as "shelters" as they are labeled. The 42 million 558 thousand 109 violations in the category of "violation of bodily inviolability" is the number of sheep and goats whose bodily inviolability is violated and tortured during shearing for wool, mohair and hair production. During shearing, animals are immobilized and controlled in great desperation, and their bodily inviolability is violated through severe physical and psychological torture.
AT LEAST 2,979,758 cases of sexual violence could be reported. Of this number, 2,979,752 are systematic acts of rape under the name of "artificial insemination", which is practiced by inserting an arm into the rectum and an iron rod into the vagina of animals for the continuation of the dairy industry. At LEAST 6 cases of sexual violence other than artificial insemination were reported. However, we know that animal rape is not "isolated" incidents as claimed. These acts, which are "misdemeanors" according to national legislation but are crimes against animals, are an attack on living beings with emotions and the ability to feel pain, sexual violence and usurpation of the right to bodily inviolability. The fact that rape cannot be prevented in our society, that it is even legitimized, and that animal rape is still not criminalized is a shameful incident that needs to be addressed from psychological, sociological and many other perspectives. We remind once again that cows, donkeys, dogs, sheep, sheep, chickens, ducks, horses are among the animals raped in Turkey and that animal rape is a reality that is known but covered up by all segments of society.
In 2016, when we received news of massacres almost every day, only 229 people were imposed administrative fines for acts such as ill-treatment, torture and killing of animals. While in 2016, administrative fines of 526 TL were imposed on such unjust acts, as of 2017, the fine for acts such as animal rape and ill-treatment was increased by 20 TL and set at 546 TL. We do not accept such "funny" sanctions against those who torture and rape animals, which actually encourage the perpetrators. In 2016, a total of 934,035 TL administrative fines were imposed due to unjust acts determined as violations of animal rights under the Law No. 5199 on the Protection of Animals. In 2016, the number of animals confiscated due to mistreatment was only 157 according to the data of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs. According to the "dangerous breed" circular currently in force, 40 dogs were confiscated in 2016 for allegedly belonging to breeds such as Pitbull Terrier and Dogo Argentino. It is a matter of curiosity for us how many of these dogs are still alive because the majority of these dogs are killed by municipalities.
As can be seen from the figures we have announced, animals have had their "share" of the social violence and lynching culture that has been on the rise in our country, especially in recent years, and continue to do so. Treating animals, the weakest individuals in the ring of social violence, as "property"; not seeing them as sentient individuals with rights affects all segments of the society, dragging our society, which we see on the verge of insanity with the events we witness every day, into a deep intolerance, inequality and injustice that spreads to everyone. We call out to all segments of society: As long as we do not treat every living creature on earth fairly, peace and justice will not come to our society as it will not come to any society. If we do not stop ignoring, violating the rights of, and persecuting animals, who feel pain, fear, and stress on a par with us, perhaps even more severely, the scale of the genocide to which animals are subjected will intensify, and we will inevitably experience together the destruction of the world through ecological catastrophe. Animals' rights must be recognized immediately, first and foremost because they are individuals with inherent rights, and in order to transform the world into a more just and equal living environment for all.
Freedom for all without exception!
Animal rights, right now!
ANIMAL RIGHTS MONITORING COMMITTEE (HAKİM)
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