ISTANBUL — Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Istanbul on Sunday to protest recent legislation that critics say is leading to the killing of stray dogs across Turkey.

Last month, legislators approved the new law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from Turkish streets citing safety concerns.

Animal-lovers fear it will lead to widespread culling or dogs ending up in disease-ridden and overcrowded shelters.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the law was necessary to deal with the country’s “stray dog problem.”

Sunday’s protesters called for the law to be repealed, brandishing posters reading “shelters are death camps” and “withdraw the bloody law.”

“We want this law to be withdrawn immediately,” protester Hasan Kizilyatak, 64, told The Associated Press. “They (stray dogs) are living beings, just like us. We are here because we are against them being annihilated.”

Ayten Arslan, 55, who said she supports Erdogan, also showed up to protest.

“Just like we stood beside our president on July 15 (2016) when there was a coup attempt, we are here for the stray animals,” she told the AP. “I say as an AK Party supporter, this law, is a bloody law.”

The main opposition Republican People’s Party moved to repeal the law in the Constitutional Court less than two weeks after it passed.

The government estimates that around 4 million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets and rural areas. Although most are harmless, several people, including children, have been attacked.

A report released by the Safe Streets and Defense of the Right to Life Association, an organization campaigning for the removal of all stray dogs from the streets, says that 65 people have died in street dog attacks since 2022.

The new legislation requires municipalities to collect stray dogs and house them in shelters to be vaccinated, neutered and spayed before making them available for adoption.

Dogs that are in pain, terminally ill or pose a health risk to humans will be euthanized. The initial draft bill included cats, but that article was changed after a public outcry.

However, many question where cash-strapped municipalities would find the money to build the necessary extra shelters required.

Animal rights activists worry that some municipalities might kill dogs on the pretext that they are ill rather than allocate resources to shelter them.

Videos showing dead cats and dogs buried in ditches have been circulating on social media recently. Animal rights activists say the animals were indiscriminately killed after the passage of the law.