“It feels very much like stray dogs are being scapegoated for a lot of other turmoil the country is going through, whether it’s the economy or COVID,” Elizabeth Lo, director of the documentary Stray, tells The Animal Reader about the current stray dog round-up in Turkey.
She followed dog Zeytin between 2017 and 2019 and was amazed by how well stray animals were taken care of in Istanbul. She remembers thinking then that “even if you’re unowned, you can still live a great life”. But that way of life is now under threat, she adds.
In December, Turkish president Erdoğan said that the streets are no place for homeless animals and ordered municipalities to remove stray dogs. “A dog massacre” is happening, Turkish animal welfare organizations said. Lo is shocked by what is happening and is leaving for Turkey on Friday to find Zeytin.
Click here to watch the interview The Animal Reader had with Elizabeth Lo.
The Animal Reader is a small independent news platform with daily posts about issues affecting animals.
