The application and website called Havrita created a serious agenda over the past weekend. Although the main opinion is focused on #Shut Down, it has been determined that some of the images used in these calls do not reflect the truth. Supporters of the application are united on the call of #HavritaHayatKurtarır, which focuses on the threat of stray dogs to human life.
At this point, the subject has moved away from the context of animal philanthropy; We see how the agenda that grows with images that do not reflect reality and the discussions that deviate from its purpose actually reveal individuals who hate animals. It is now clearly seen that the Havrita discussions do not bring a clear solution neither for the souls on the street nor for the people to wander freely on the streets. So why?
Let’s start from the beginning for those who are new to the subject: There was an application called Havrita, which was established to be a ‘stray dog map’ wandering the streets, and this application was closed:
The stated purpose of the application is to mark the location of dogs that often gang up on the streets and sometimes exhibit aggressive behavior, and to inform both users and official authorities on this issue.
As a matter of fact, the open-ended design of the application paves the way for malicious people to develop their own ruthless solutions:
There is a serious group stating that stray animals, especially dogs, pose a serious threat to human life, and even if there is no vital issue, especially dogs that become gangs, disturb the peace.
When we say #HavritaYaşatır, we mean people, not stray dogs. It is emphasized that the sole purpose is to “learn the location of the gangbanging stray dogs”:
But this open-ended purpose exposes bad guys in society:
The ganging up and aggressive behavior of stray dogs can cause problems for people, especially in places where urbanization is intense. As a matter of fact, the fact that the locations of these gangs and dogs are marked mobilizes people who do not really like animals and want them dead.
However, whatever the reason may be, the words of those who “do not want to see a stray dog on the street” reveal the person or people who are pro-violence and who can harm a living thing without even blinking, without question, for no reason. In a way, souls who do not have the ability to make decisions like us, and who have to live on the streets because of us; can be killed!
Let’s say you marked a dog you saw walking on the street on Havrita…
Depending on your experience, you may want to indicate that the animal you see while marking is ‘in need of help’ or ‘behaving aggressively’. So your aim is; may vary depending on the experience you have experienced. In other words, you may have wanted to save the life of an animal that you could not support at that moment or to prevent other people from approaching that area due to their aggressive behavior.
At this point, the health of the animal you have located depends on the approach of the person who sees that mark on the map. Those who see the sign can find those animals and harm them as well as help them. However, the views on the Havrita front are that these animals are put to sleep or closed to shelters for life.
It was the Paw Guards, operating under the name ‘Paw Protectors Association’, that started the #HavritaClosed campaign:
PawGuards stated on Twitter on June 16 that Havrita caused animal deaths and that the animals whose locations were marked were found dead or disappeared the next day. However, according to PawGuards, Havrita isn’t just used to tag and kill animals; There are even calls for ‘individual armament’, which may cause a social movement to the claim of the community.
As a matter of fact, there are serious doubts about the Paw Protectors Association, to which the PawGuards community is affiliated. You will remember:
The summary of the event, as explained by publisher ‘Jahrein’ Ahmet Conclusion in the video above, is as follows: The PawGuards community is actually not affiliated with an association but a for-profit company. It can even collect ‘donations’ with a business model based on e-commerce. It is stated that Erkin Erdoğdu, who is said to have no official ties to the association, but nevertheless is in charge of the entire operation, has been convicted of many crimes. Erdoğdu does not deny these allegations, that he collects donations via e-commerce or that he has no official ties.
Now let’s take a closer look at the following post that Erdoğdu called for #HavritaClosed:
The photo used in the post actually belongs to an animal murder in Muğla in March 2022:
Havrita, on the other hand, is a service established in May 2022, so the incident Erdoğdu shared is not actually related to Havrita:
You are much less likely to question the authenticity of the news made about a murdered life. For this reason, and naturally, animal lovers can be easily manipulated, they can only get angry at a certain point. So, in their eyes, a target is set. As a result, has a life been slaughtered, chopped. Unfortunately, we cannot change that.
It has been stated under the tweet by the users that the news on Erdoğdu’s sharing is not true. However, Jahrein and his community, who learned this detail; already had the opportunity to take a concrete step towards PawGuars, which he had faced before. In other words, the first source of the information that the news was false was not Jahrein, but other users. Jahrein announced this, an existing truth, through his community.
The claims of PawGuards based on fake news also mobilize celebrities. Many names, without questioning the source and content of the allegations, think that Havrita was a ‘murderer practice’ before it was shut down:
The subject summarized by Journalist Cüneyt Özdemir in the video above is not just about animal lover. In fact, it summarizes that a proposition that appeals to emotions can be rejected or accepted without question.
Is the solution to put the animals to sleep or to keep them in healthy shelters and prevent them from multiplying with planned sterilization?
This is exactly the issue that sharpens the sides of the debate. While doubts about its activities and sources of income are intense, PawGuards agrees with its thousands of members and those who want the animals to survive.
It shows us that real people who use fake news images and represent associations are not completely reliable. However, this is not enough to say that the line they think and defend the survival of animals is wrong. For example, the criticism of PawGuards is the findings and claims that were made before the Havrita incident and that animal lovers use their emotions.
According to the side that says Jahrein has a voice and Havrita keeps them alive, animals should be put to sleep in a controlled manner and kept in shelters. These shelters should be invested by authorized institutions, and population growth should be brought under control by means of sedation.
Conclusion: We forget the facts when we argue about who is right on social media. There are two facts:
- The uncontrolled proliferation of stray dogs can threaten human life.
- But the lives of innocent animals are also in danger.
It is not the fault of animals that animals roam freely in cities designated as habitats by humans and that this has reached a level that threatens human life. Before declaring creatures with no reasoning ability like humans guilty and imposing cruel punishments, it is useful to solve the mistakes made.
Instead of taking a life that has already been born, it makes more sense to take various measures such as ‘planned sterilization’ and ‘building shelters with good living conditions’ long before the problem. However, while wandering around echo chambers like Twitter, it is necessary to see that the discussions carried out with the aim of defrauding people do not bring any solution to the effort to be right.