Turkey's AK Party submits animal rights bill

ANKARA

Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party on Thursday submitted a long-awaited bill on animal rights to the Parliament's Speaker Office.

Under the bill, “animals will no longer be seen as products, but as life," Mahir Unal, the party's deputy parliamentary group chair, told reporters in parliament.

Also under the bill, the sale of cats and dogs by pet shops will be banned, he said.

Unal also said land-based and water circuses and dolphin parks will be prohibited.

"Cat and dog owners will be required to have digital IDs, and their abandonment will face sanctions," he said.

The bill will first face parliament's Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs Committee.

"We hope to pass this bill before parliament’s (summer) recess, keeping our promise (to the nation)," he added.

The bill is expected to be debated next week by the committee.

On June 8, AK Party spokesman Omer Celik told reporters that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for the law’s passage.