Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
6th International Health Sciences and Life Congress, Burdur, Türkiye, 2 - 05 Mart 2023, ss.566
In Turkey, animals are in the status of “property”
for humans as per the rules of law. It is not clear which creature is called an
“animal” or what is meant by the word animal in the legal system. In this
context, “who is the owner of the animal” is also one of the difficult questions
in veterinary medicine. The aim of the research is to reveal how the
terms animal and animal owner are used in the legislation in force in Turkey
and to investigate the value attributed to the animal on the legal basis. The main material of the research was the basic legislation
in force in the field of veterinary medicine. The abrogated and other types of
legislation such as circulars and directives are excluded from the study.
Within the scope of the study, three basic laws (Laws No. 6343, Laws No. 5996
and Laws No. 5199), 51 regulations and related communiqués were examined.In the analysis, the concept of animal in the
legislation has defined in different terms and definitions as “animal, patient,
pet, stray animal, weakened animal, experimental animal, animal for slaughter,
fur, non-food animal, food-purpose animal, domestic and ornamental animal,
fishery products, farm game animal, ungulate, rabbit-likes, nomadic animals,
mature sheep and goats, mature buffalo, mature cow, beef breeds, dairy breeds,
combined breeds, culture breeds, brood queen bee, ram and buck, breeder sheep
and goat, buffalo cow, calf, heifer, bovine type animal”. It
has been observed that some regulations have privatized the concept of animals
according to their jurisdiction, and it has been determined that different age
and gender groups of animals of some species are named differently. On the
other hand, the concept of animal owner has referred to "the real or legal
person holding the property of the animal" as a general definition. The
emphasis on “property” in the concept of animal owner was found to be
remarkable. Consequently, in Turkish legislation, although there are various
definitions of the term "animal" in connection with the use of the
animal and the value attributed to the animal, the concept of "animal
owner" seems to be more specific.