Applied to Constitutional Court for dog attacks

Lawyer Meltem Zorba in Ankara made an individual application to the Constitutional Court after the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated that the allegation of "abuse of office" was abstract and general in nature and decided not to process the complaint, with no appeal possible.

According to İHA news, Lawyer Meltem Zorba, reminding local governments of their obligation to care for stray animals, stated that in cases of attack, those responsible can be sued for compensation in the administrative courts.

Meltem Zorba said, "Measures need to be taken to prevent harm that may come from stray animals to humans. After the law change, stray animals on the street need to be collected. Since municipalities did not fulfill these responsibilities, sometimes the victims would file compensation lawsuits in the administrative courts. These compensation lawsuits were concluded in favor of the victims. However, we still see that sufficient precautions are not being taken on the street. It is not enough to rule against local governments just because of service failure."

Stating that local governments should also be subject to criminal prosecution for negligence in cases of attack by stray animals, Zorba concluded his words as follows:

"There is a decision by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office not to proceed with the matter in our individual application. They evaluated our application regarding local government officials as abstract and general, and decided not to proceed with the application, with no appeal possible. This decision restricts the freedom to seek rights. Because stray animals on the streets seriously victimize people, cause injuries and deaths, and cause environmental pollution.

All of this actually means that people's constitutional rights are being violated. For this reason, we have made our individual application to the Constitutional Court to have this violation eliminated. We expect that the violation will be assessed and a notification will be made to the prosecutor's offices so that effective investigations can be conducted on this issue."