ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Local authorities in the town of Taqtaq in Erbil province have launched a campaign to collect stray dogs and transfer them to a large shelter in the city, the municipality director said on Tuesday, stressing that the dogs pose a risk to citizens. 

“Due to the increase in stray dogs and the threat they pose to residents’ lives, we have decided to round them up … and transfer them to Erbil’s stray dog shelter,” Taqtaq municipality director Sangar Saud told The New Region.

The lack of a dedicated shelter for stray dogs in the subdistrict has forced local authorities to turn to Erbil’s central shelter. 

“However, if the need arises in the future, we will work towards opening a dedicated shelter,” Saud said, adding that the subdistrict records between 20 to 30 dog bites and attacks annually. 

Shelters in the Kurdistan Region, however, are underdeveloped, unhygienic, and lack the basic necessities for life, such as food and water. 

The shelters also lack proper shade and are usually constructed on barren fields, making it especially grueling for the strays during the scorching summer months.

In 2022, animal rights activists in Sulaimani protested a provincial campaign to collect stray dogs and place them in shelters, labeling the facilities as “slaughterhouses.” Instead, they suggested that the dogs be neutered and returned to the streets.

In March, The New Region published footage showing rounded-up strays being mistreated at a dog shelter in Erbil, with dozens of animals transferred from Bardarash being dropped from a truck with no concern for their welfare. Another video clip showed a distressed female dog watching her puppies being burned alive in Sulaimani's Qualaraisi neighborhood, provoking horror after it circulated on social media.

The Kurdistan Region passed its first-ever animal protection law in late 2022, deeming the killing of stray animals forbidden by any means. But nearly four years later, little has been done to safeguard their lives, with killings, beatings, and other forms of abuse remaining rife.

Over 300,000 stray dogs roam the streets of the Kurdistan Region, according to the Sulaimani-based Kurdistan Green Party.