ANKARA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The tragic case of a defenceless tiny puppy, whose paws and tail had been cut off, has prompted outrage throughout Turkey.
The adorable maimed black one-month-old puppy, whose four paws and tail had been chopped off, was found in a forest in the Sapanca district of northwestern province of Sakarya and sent in a rush to a vet for treatment.
The wounded animal fought for its life for two days, but sadly died after surgery on Friday in a special clinic in Istanbul, sparking fury in the country from animal lovers, demanding that perpetrators be found immediately.
The veterinarian who treated the puppy told Dogan News Agency that the scars showed straight cuts made with a sharp object such as an axe while Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu suggested that the investigation showed the animal's feet might have been cut with heavy construction equipment, implying an accident.
Several experts have, on social media, stated that the animal had been intentionally tortured, arguing it was impossible that four legs and a tail were hacked at the same time by a bulldozer.
The incident which quickly went viral on social media also shifted part of public attention from the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections to animal rights.
President Erdogan told an election rally in Istanbul on Sunday that police had detained a construction machine operator on Saturday in relation to the puppy's death.
Erdogan pledged that Turkey's animal rights laws would be amended after the June 24 vote in which he is aiming to win a second term.
"Whether at home or on the street, we will take the law into consideration and evaluate it. This operator was arrested today. The authorities in Sapanca ordered his arrest," he said.
Both government officials and opposition politicians condemned the act and called for stricter measures against mistreating animals.
An amendment to animal rights legislation waits for several months in the parliamentary agenda which foresees more strict penalties for anyone who abuses animals.
Although the new bill proposes heavier jail sentences, people's mentality towards animal cruelty has to be changed first, Burak Ozguner, an activist from the Animal Rights Monitoring Committee, told Xinhua.
Ozguner applauded the bill but warned that courts usually delay or commute jail terms which are less than two years, and replace them with a fine.
Besides Erdogan, several of his challengers in the elections wrote on social media to condemn the horrific deed.
"This brutality against a small being is a painful manifestation of the loss of values in our country. I hope those who hurt a small puppy find what they deserve in the afterlife," newly formed Iyi Party (Good Party) leader and presidential candidate Meral Aksener said on Twitter.
Despite the horrific incident, Turkey, where animal cruelty has become more visible because of social media, is rather a paradise for stray cats and dogs. In big cities especially, such animals roam free in the streets protected and fed by people in the neighborhoods.
