ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Legislators approved Tuesday a new law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from Turkey’s streets that animal lovers fear will lead to many of the dogs being killed or ending up in neglected, overcrowded shelters. Some also say the law could also be used to target the opposition which made huge gains in the country’s local elections months ago.

Deputies in the Turkish Grand National Assembly approved the legislation following a marathon overnight session as the government pushed to have it passed before the summer recess as demonstrations in cities across Turkey saw thousands call for the scrapping of an article that would allow some stray animals to be euthanized. Opposition lawmakers, animal welfare groups and others have dubbed the bill the “massacre law.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the new law is necessary to deal with the country’s “stray dog problem.”

The government estimates that around 4 million stray dogs roam Turkey’s streets and rural areas. Although many are harmless, a growing number are congregating in packs, and several people have been attacked. The country’s large stray cat population is not a focus of the bill.

In Istanbul’s Sishane Square, hundreds gathered and issued a defiant message to the government. “Your massacre law is just a piece of paper for us,” the organizers told the crowd. “We will write the law on the streets. Life and solidarity, not hatred and hostility, will win.”

Animal lovers in the capital Ankara protested outside municipal offices. To whistles and jeers, a statement was read: “We are warning the government again and again, stop the law. Do not commit this crime against this country.”

Protests organized by political parties and animal welfare groups were also held in cities across Europe, where there were warnings the law could dissuade tourists from visiting Turkey.

Turkey’s main opposition party said it would seek its cancellation at the country’s Supreme Court.

“You have made a law that is morally, conscientiously and legally broken. You cannot wash your hands of blood,” Murat Emir, a senior deputy with the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said Sunday night in parliament. He questioned why the bill called for healthy and unaggressive animals to be collected if they were not to be killed.

Others blamed a failure to implement previous regulations, which required stray dogs to be caught, neutered, spayed and returned to where they were found, had led to the growth in the canine population.

The Humane Society International said in a statement that it had written to Erdogan to raise concerns that the law will cause “unnecessary suffering and death to countless animals in a short-term fix that won’t deliver a long-term solution.”

Ali Ozkaya, of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, described the bill as a “demand of the nation.”

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.

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

“Since there are not enough places in the shelters — there are very few shelters in Turkey — a path has been opened for the killing (of strays),” said veterinarian Turkan Ceylan. “We animal rights activists know very well that this spells death.”

The CHP, which won many of Turkey’s biggest municipalities in elections earlier this year, has said it will not implement the law. However, the newly passed bill introduces prison sentences of up to two years for mayors who do not carry out their duties to tackle strays, leading to suspicions that the law will be used to go after opposition mayors.

The government denies the bill would lead to a widespread culling. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told journalists last week that anyone killing strays “for no reason” would be punished.

Murat Pinar, who heads an association campaigning for measures to keep the streets safe from stray dogs, says at least 75 people, including 44 children, were killed as a result of attacks or by traffic accidents caused by dogs since 2022. That’s the year his 9-year-old daughter, Mahra, was run over by a truck after she fled from two aggressive dogs.

During public meetings on the bill, representatives of some nongovernmental groups were prevented from observing the proceedings. Activists have gathered in parks demanding that what they call the “massacre law” be withdrawn.

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By ANDREW WILKS and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press

Andrew Wilks reported from Istanbul.