Thursday, October 21, Istanbul – Vegan Association Turkey (TVD) has filed a lawsuit in the Bolu Administrative Court to prevent the killing of 15 red deer planned to be hunted in Bolu within the framework of the 2021-2022 Hunting Year Hunting Tourism Implementation Instructions prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The association demanded an immediate stay of execution and cancellation of the tender for the "hunting of 15 red deer" under protection in Bolu's Mudurnu Sırçalı, Kıbrısçık, Seben Merkez and Seben Taşlıyayla regions until 28 February 2022, as it violates ethics and the law.
The right to life of deer was auctioned for a minimum of 9,300 TL and a maximum of 14,800 TL per individual.
If a stay of execution decision is taken in the lawsuit, every red deer planned to be killed by hunters through hunting agencies until February 28, 2022, will be saved.
Precedent decisions are taken in favor of animals in 2020, including Bolu
Last year, the Bolu Administrative Court, upon the application of the Bolu Municipality Animal Rights Commission, decided to stay the execution of the tender for the hunting of 16 red deer.
Last year, civil society organizations, municipalities, deputies, and bar associations took action against hunting tourism tenders across Turkey, as was the case in Bolu, killing red deer, gazelles, and wild goats in many cities from Eskişehir to Erzincan, from Şanlıurfa to Antalya was prevented by court decisions on the grounds of illegality.
The right to life cannot be made the subject of material gain.
In the petition submitted by TVD to the Bolu Administrative Court this year, it was emphasized that hunting tourism and hunting activities carried out with the permission of the ministry are unethical, unlawful and unscientific, by referring to these precedent decisions. The association also touched upon the importance of a decision to suspend execution and annulment from the court as soon as possible.
Pointing out that the defenses of the Ministry include profit-oriented discourses and that the courts found insufficient and baseless in the last year, TVD said in the petition, “In each case, the Defendant Ministry and the agencies that bought the quotas by winning the tenders and then became involved in the case could not submit any evidence of a justifiable action to the files; in response, only the reason for financial gain was put forward. The right to life, which is a constitutional right, is one of the fundamental rights that must be respected not only of humans but also of non-human animals. In addition, a possible refusal decision will mean the continuation of the unlawful process that will continue until March next year and the death of the animals, in addition to the clear violation of the law and legislation; it will cause irreversible and incomparable damage to material losses."
A lawsuit was also filed for the protection of wild goats.
At the end of September, TVD filed a lawsuit against the hunting of 70 wild goats in Adana, Mersin, Niğde, Hatay, and Kayseri together with the Animal Rights and Ethics Association.
In addition, TVD, with the contributions of the Freedom for Dolphins Platform, the Justice for Animals Association (HAD), and the Animal Rights Watch Committee (HAKİM), applied for involvement in lawsuits those requests the cancellation of all hunting tenders and the decisions of the Central Hunting Commission (MAK) opened by İzmir Bar Association and Ankara Bar Association.
Animal rights organizations also shared on their websites and social media accounts the sample lawsuit petitions required by nature and animal rights defenders to file lawsuits and/or apply for involvement in lawsuits.
Contact: Vegan Association Turkey, Öykü Yağcı, 534 892 7559, [email protected]
