Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said: “We will challenge this law in the constitutional court as soon as possible. It violates the animals’ right to life.”
Critics said relying on animal sanctuaries and adoption is ultimately unworkable because of the numbers involved. Instead, they advocated for a mass sterilisation and vaccination campaign.
The law has revived memories of a 1910 tragedy when the Ottoman authorities rounded up around 60,000 strays in Istanbul and sent them to a deserted rock in the Sea of Marmara.
With nothing else to eat, the dogs tore each other to pieces.
Aliye Timisi Ersever, a member of the CHP, said: “Today is a dark day. Neither history nor humanity will forgive those who voted ‘yes’.”
Four Paws, the international animal welfare group, urged Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, not to ratify the new law.
‘Neither history or humanity will forgive’
“Four Paws strongly condemns the killing [and] long-term mass sheltering of stray animals as means of population control, not only due to the suffering this causes… but also because this is an ineffective, inhumane and costly way to reduce stray animal numbers,” it said.
The most successful method would be to catch, neuter and vaccinate the animals and then re-release them, it added.
Mr Erdoğan previously said of the issue: “We have a stray dog problem that does not exist in any developed country.”
The social-democrat CHP, which took control of Istanbul and other major cities in local elections in March, said its mayors will not apply the law.
The legislation says dogs will be put down if they “present a danger to the life or health of people and animals, display uncontrollable negative behaviour, have a contagious or incurable disease or whose adoption is forbidden”.
It says local councils must build animal shelters and implement the law by 2028. Mayors who refuse could be jailed for up to two years.
The country currently has 322 animal shelters with a capacity for 105,000 dogs which, according to the bill, is far short of what would be needed to round up the number of strays.
The opposition accused the AKP of seeking revenge after its drubbing in the local elections.
Gokce Gokcen, the CHP deputy, said: “You want to take revenge for March 31. You can pass as many massacre laws as you like but none of our local councils will be your accomplice.”
Millions of people in Turkey feed and pet the country’s strays. The government’s plan sparked protests around the country and inside parliament.