Animal rights activists have stated a day after meeting with Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu that they want him to ban the use of horse-drawn carriages in the city’s Princes’ Islands (Adalar).
According to a report by Ferhat Yasar from the Gazete Duvar news portal, the activists on Saturday expressed in a press statement that they were not happy with the meeting they had with Imamoglu on the issue a day before.
The activists underlined in the statement read in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) building that they want Imamoglu to take concrete steps to end the use of horse-drawn carriages in the city.
Animal rights defenders voiced their demands on the third day of their protests before the city hall, which began after 81 horses working on the islands were put to sleep on Thursday due to becoming infected with glanders.
Glanders is a highly contagious and fatal respiratory disease that has killed hundreds of horses since an outbreak began in 2017 in Turkey.
The use of horse-drawn carriages on the islands was banned for three months, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya announced a day after the killing of glanders-infected horses.
“We absolutely do not want any animal on the islands to live in poor conditions and to be killed,” Yerlikaya said on Friday.
Animal rights activists on Saturday accused Istanbul mayor of failing to keep his promise given before he was elected on March 31 local elections to replace horse-drawn carriages on the islands with electric carriages.
According to their statement, Imamoglu told them during the meeting that they have been considering limiting the number of horse-drawn carriages to 200, which is 10 percent of what is currently used.
“Unfortunately, we have seen that Imamoglu is far from fully comprehending the problem with the horse-drawn carriages [in Istanbul,]” Viyan Kinali from Istanbul’s Vegan Initiative outlined on Saturday.
“Imamoglu told us [Friday] that there were people on the islands who defend the use of horse-drawn carriages. They should not forget that they face the risk of catching a contagious disease because of the policy supporting horse-drawn carriages,” Kinali added.
Another member of the initiative, Onur Kavrik, promised that they would continue staging protests in front of the municipal building until Imamoglu takes a concrete step to meet their demands.
A parliament committee reported in October that up to 400 horses are dying on the islands every year due to overwork, disease, malnutrition, and neglect, while activists argue that the real number is twice as high.
Turkish bar associations denounce amnesty bill for child sexual abusers
The post Activists demand Istanbul mayor bans horse-drawn carriages appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/12/23/activists-demand-istanbul-mayor-bans-horse-drawn-carriages/
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder