Animal rights activists celebrate after forcing criminal case on man who had sex with dog

ANIMAL rights activists are celebrating after they got a criminal case brought against a man who had sex with a dog.

Hakan Yucel about to have sex with a dogEuropics

Hakan Yucel is to be jailed for having sex with a dog

Perverted Hakan Yucel, 45 was captured on CCTV approaching a black and white dog, called Nilayim, in a street in Istanbul and then having sex with her.

At first it seemed he would get away with it because there is no animal cruelty law in Turkey. 

However, activists have now managed to get him charged with damaging property as the dog was owned by someone and was not a stray.

As he carried out the act, he was spotted by passers-by who chased him away.

Murat Safak, 33, said: "My girlfriend and I had gone for a romantic walk when we heard whimpering and grunting.

"We then saw the most disgusting sight, of this man holding the dog by the back of its neck and having sex with it.

"At first I was so stunned I don't know what to do. But then I shouted out and started running towards them. He ran off though before I could get hold of him." 

Police using a CCTV camera image managed to track down and identify Yucel whose home was just five minutes away.

A police spokesman said: "When we tracked him down he denied having anything to do with it.

"But when we showed him the footage of him sexually abusing the dog, he said he had been drunk and couldn't remember anything about the night." 

Under Turkish law, killing or torturing animals is usually treated as a misdemeanour and is therefore not punishable with jail.

But the dog owner's lawyer Yasemin Babayigit, paid for by a local animal rights charity, said: "We have managed to have him charged with immodest behaviour and damaging property as the dog named 'Nilayim' is not a stray.

"I am delighted that we have managed to turn this into a criminal case although it is sad that animals are only protected based on whether or not they have an owner." 

The man now faces four years in jail. The first hearing will be conducted by the Istanbul 63rd Criminal Court of First Instance on November 27.

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