The rounding up of 160 dogs at Ege University was met with a backlash. In Izmir, animal rights advocates protested the removal by the Bornova Municipality of approximately 160 dogs cared for by students on the Ege University campus. The group gathered at Bornova Cumhuriyet Square. They then marched to the front of the municipality and held a press statement.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Pınar Alp said that at around 00.00 at night, municipal teams, accompanied by riot police, raided the living space allocated to the Animal Rights Community by the rector’s office in 2022. She said the dogs were also seized. Alp claimed that students who objected were beaten and that pepper spray was used on them. She also noted that there were injuries. She said the electricity to the area had been cut off. She stated that most of the dogs were microchipped and that the allocation was legal.
Alp said that the first act of Rector Musa Alcı, who was appointed by a presidential decree about 6 months ago, was to impose a ban on protests at the university. She noted that the area was evacuated upon his own complaint. She said they had heard claims that a private dormitory would be built there. In the statement, responsibility was placed on the AKP government and the local administrations implementing the law. The law that was passed was described as “one of the bloodiest anti-animal laws.” Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi’s statements about the roundups and his targeting of Izmir were criticized. The statement emphasized that the “neuter, vaccinate, and keep in place” policy had been abolished.
Why it matters
The roundup constitutes a concrete example showing that the law abolishing the “neuter, vaccinate, and keep in place” policy is being implemented in a way that also covers microchipped dogs and dogs cared for by students. The evacuation of the area, which the rectorate allocated in 2022 and which was stated to be legal, upon the complaint of the rector appointed by presidential decree shows that the matter has shifted from an animal rights debate to an issue of university administration and student rights. The Interior Minister’s statements targeting Izmir, meanwhile, lead the incident to be assessed as part of a national policy rather than an action by a local municipality. Among the questions awaiting answers are where the dogs were taken and what became of them, the accuracy of the claim that a private dormitory would be built on the campus, and whether an investigation will be launched into the allegations that students were beaten and pepper spray was used.
Background
The University is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 2 news stories featuring this name in the last 90 days; the most recent is dated September 10, 2026.