In Şanlıurfa, the headman, whose office was raided and “murderer” was written on his door after a rabies case was seen in his neighborhood, spoke. Mukhtar Halil Kaya said, “I did my primary duty, they raided my office and wrote murderer on my door. Where do they get this power to raid the mukhtar’s office. I filed a complaint.”
Halil Kaya, the neighborhood headman whose office was attacked by animal lovers, said that the dogs had started to be collected before the rabies case and condemned the attack of animal lovers. Stating that he is suing those who attacked his office, Kaya demanded that those who attempted to lynch him under the name of animal lovers be caught.
“I filed a lawsuit against those who made perceptions on social media”
Giving detailed information about the rabid dog case, Batıkent Neighborhood Headman Halil Kaya said, “20 days ago, in line with the demands and requests of our residents, we informed the municipal teams about the drooling, untagged, stray, aggressive animals in our neighborhood. There are such animals in our neighborhood, take them, tag them, sterilize them, sterilize them, shoot their vaccines. Our municipality teams also came. Of course, while we were collecting these animals, a lady from our neighborhood prevented us. She said you can’t take these animals. The municipality teams left without collecting all of them. After a week, 10 days, while I was sitting in the mukhtar’s office, I received a call from the residents of the neighborhood. They said there was a dog attack in the park. Of course, when we went there, there was no attacking dog and no bitten brother. Then he went to the hospital with his own means and had his vaccinations. We told him to identify the dog that bit him and the citizens there said that dog bit him. So we called the municipality authorities and delivered the dog to the municipality authorities intact. 2 days passed. At the end of two days, the dog’s report came back. The dog was found to be rabid. Then the health teams reached the bitten person. So this is all we have been through, but now we are looking at what is being written and drawn, especially about our hometown. Then they raided my mukhtar’s office while I was not here. They said things like “murderer”, “bloodyurfa”, “Şanlıurfa”, “whatever”. So there is no need for these things. I filed a lawsuit and a complaint against those who made perceptions on social media in this way and I condemn them. No one has the right to harm our country, especially my person, by harming our mukhtar’s office in this way, by writing and drawing. These are our experiences.
“Did we want the animal to be rabid?”
Kaya, who said that he also knew the people who attacked the mukhtar’s office, said, “I am a resident of the neighborhood and they came to our mukhtar’s office after the rabies case broke out. The health teams here took care of it, thank God they are still taking care of it. Then they say the dog is not rabid. There are also reports published by the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture. Did we want this animal to be rabid, would anyone want such a thing. This is one of my main duties. I am here to report the demands of the citizens to the authorized units. If I didn’t report this, we reported it, and then they started a lynch campaign. As I said, we condemn them. I have already filed a complaint against them. I also appeal to the authorities here. After all, this is a state institution, where do these people get this power. Where do they get this power to raid the mukhtar’s office. The citizen bitten by the dog is being treated at home.”
Neighborhood residents demanded the dogs to be collected
Bedirhan Küçük, one of the residents of the neighborhood who applied to the mukhtar’s office for the dogs to be collected, said, “I called our mukhtar as a resident of Batıkent Neighborhood. We asked him to collect the stray dogs outside. Thanks to him, he did not break us. He started to collect the dogs by calling the necessary places. At that time, an animal-loving citizen harassed the mukhtar with threats and insults, saying things like you are killing dogs. We demanded it ourselves as a neighborhood.”
There were biting cases before
Mehmet Garip, who said that dogs had attacked and injured his wife before, said, “My wife was attacked by an animal. I did not know, I was outside. We called an ambulance and took her to the emergency room. I have a disabled child, he cannot go anywhere. There are many animals. I also ask the mukhtar to collect them.”
