Woman applies to Constitutional Court after her dogs were removed from house

SAMSUN

A woman has applied to Turkey’s Constitutional Court after her two dogs were removed from her house by a local court order following a complaint filed by the management of the housing complex where she lives.

Neslihan Güdül’s lawyer, Suat Uzun, told local media on Dec. 10 it was a first in Turkey, as such a case had never been taken to the Constitutional Court before.

The management of the housing complex sued Güdül on grounds that she was not allowed to have her two dogs, “Paşa” and “Ringo,” on the premises of the complex.

A court in the Black Sea province of Samsun sided with the housing complex’s management, ruling that Güdül should have her two dogs removed from her house.

Güdül later took the case to an appeals court, which also agreed with the local court’s ruling, prompting the woman to take the case to the country’s highest court, the Constitutional Court.

Uzun said no Turkish citizen had ever made an individual application to the Constitutional Court before, arguing that the local court’s ruling was a “violation of the Animal Rights Convention.”

“There was no option left for us other than filing an individual application to the Constitutional Court. We have demanded that the Human Rights Convention be implemented, of which Turkey is a signatory and which is covered in the constitution. We are waiting for the result [of our application]. According to my analyses, there is no other application similar to ours filed to the Constitutional Court,” Uzun said.