An Irish tourist who was bitten by a stray dog at a metro station in Istanbul has won a lawsuit against public authorities and been awarded a total of TL 256,713.40 ($5,620) in material and moral damages.
Samuel Grzywna was injured on April 19, 2023, after being attacked by a stray dog at Yenikapı Metro Station in Istanbul's Fatih district.
Claiming that public authorities had failed in their duties, Grzywna, through his lawyer Hikmet Berk Dilmen, filed a lawsuit seeking TL 32,472 in compensation for medical and treatment expenses and TL 500,000 in moral damages for the pain and suffering caused by the incident.
After examining the case file, Istanbul's 8th Administrative Court ruled that Grzywna should receive TL 6,713.40 in material damages for his medical expenses and TL 250,000 in moral damages for the distress he experienced.
The court ordered the Istanbul Governor's Office, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Fatih Municipality to share responsibility equally for the compensation payments.
Under the ruling, each institution is required to pay TL 2,237.80 of the material damages and TL 83,333.33 of the moral damages, together with legal interest. The court also ruled that litigation costs should be shared equally among the three public bodies.
In its decision, the court referred to relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Law, the Metropolitan Municipality Law, the Municipality Law, the Animal Protection Law and the Regulation on the Implementation of Animal Protection Measures.
The ruling stated that responsibilities such as the protection, care and supervision of stray animals, the rehabilitation and adoption of aggressive animals and the establishment of animal shelters fall under the authority of governorates, metropolitan municipalities and district municipalities.
The court emphasized that public authorities are required not only to perform the services for which they are responsible but also to continuously monitor those services and take the necessary precautions during their implementation.
According to the ruling, if authorities fail to fulfill these obligations and such failures result in harm, they may be held liable for both material and moral damages due to what Turkish administrative law defines as a "service fault."
The court also noted that groups of stray dogs living in or near residential areas cannot be considered to be in a natural environment, as they often rely on household waste for food and may not always be able to find adequate nourishment.
For this reason, the court said municipalities' responsibilities do not end after stray dogs receive care and are returned to the locations where they were collected. Ongoing monitoring and supervision remain part of the public service obligation.
Medical records issued by the Istanbul Training and Research Hospital of the University of Health Sciences confirmed that Grzywna had suffered a dog bite to his left leg and that the attack caused a bleeding wound that damaged the skin.
The court concluded that responsibility for the care and supervision of the dogs in the area surrounding Yenikapı Metro Station rested equally with the governor's office, the metropolitan municipality and the district municipality.
The court ruling comes as Istanbul intensifies efforts to address its stray animal population. According to official figures released in May, authorities have collected 46% of stray animals across the city as part of a broader campaign to improve public safety and enforce animal control regulations.
Municipalities have been instructed to accelerate the collection, sterilization and sheltering of stray animals, with authorities aiming to bring the remaining population under control through expanded shelter capacity and stricter implementation of existing laws.
