Buried Alive: What Happened at the Osmaniye Shelter Cannot Be Brushed Under The Carpet
In Osmaniye, Turkey, the unthinkable took place. Dogs inside a municipal shelter, animals already in human care, supposedly under protection were killed by euthanasia. Then came something even more distressing:
some of those dogs were buried while still alive.
They were found still breathing, their bodies warm, inside the burial bags.
Life rights advocate İbrahim Kaya was there. He witnessed it. He filmed it. And he spoke.
“We witnessed animals being buried alive.
Shelters are like death camps.
Shelters are killing and the killers are being acquitted.”
Kaya reported entering the shelter to find animals removed from pens and taken away to be killed. The doors were not opened to him, so he leaned against one and from there, he saw puppies being euthanised. Later, he found them buried together, adults and tiny puppies and some were still breathing inside the bags.
This was not an isolated incident. Kaya says these images came from different places in the same cities, pointing to a repeated pattern. Osmaniye is simply one name among many.
A Pattern of Silence
Kaya confirmed that no official investigation has been carried out on the Osmaniye or Gebze municipalities following the reported killings. He says he personally informed AKP Group Chairman Abdullah Güler, warning that municipal shelters were killing animals and would do so again.
He was told:
“We do not allow killing; we do not kill.”
Yet, the killings continued.
A System That Fails Animals
Veterinarian Bilsay Kanat explained how public policy moved from protection to perception management. Instead of neuter, vaccinate and release, shelters neglected legal obligations. Animals were portrayed as dangerous “stray,” “ownerless,” “problematic.”
Meanwhile:
Laws went unenforced.
Population control failed.
Sales and production were not regulated.
Shelters did not become sanctuaries — they became holding rooms for death.
Kanat states clearly:
“Right now, there is an incredibly large slaughter in Turkey… Our profession has come to be associated with it. But we are professionals whose aim is to keep them alive.”
A Call for Responsibility
Animal protection laws exist in Turkey. They are clear. They are not ambiguous. What is missing is enforcement, oversight, and consequence.
The footage from Osmaniye shows not only tragedy but evidence. It demands accountability.
These animals did not die silently.
Some were found still alive, breathing inside their burial bags.
If the law is to mean anything this cannot remain unanswered.
This Is Not Anti-Shelter
This is not an attack on shelters. A true shelter heals, protects, and rehabilitates. But shelters that kill without transparency, without audits, without lawful process are no longer shelters.
They are something else.
What Must Happen Now
✔️ Immediate investigation by the Ministry of Agriculture and local governors
✔️ Independent auditing of all shelters across Turkey
✔️ Legal accountability for every unlawful killing
✔️ Recognition that animals buried alive is not a local mistake it is a national alarm
Silencing the vulnerable is easy.
But truth has already been recorded.
The bags were opened.
The breaths were heard.
The witnesses spoke.
Now the question is:
Will anyone listen?