In Iran, the Whip Awaits Dog Owners

Rooz Online

Thirty Two parliamentarians have proposed a draft bill which if passed would penalize any person who takes pets such as dogs or monkeys into “public places”, while also providing punishments to those who keep them in their homes. The punishments range from 74 flogging lashes to a payment of ten million Toman (about $2,600) by the owners. The bill also provides for the confiscation of the pets. “The confiscated animals will be handed over to the zoo, freed in jungles or the desert and the owners of the pets will bear all the expenses until the complete transfers,” the draft legislature provides. Still another part of the bill says that any acts by the media that encourage keeping dogs as pets or popularize taking them for walks are “crimes” and those who engage in advocating or spreading such ideas will be punished by 74 lashes and up to six months of imprisonment.

Attorney Nemat Ahmadi told Rooz that the lawmaker needs to take all the aspects of the issue when passing legislature and providing punishments for its violators. According to him, dogs cannot be taken to the zoo because only special animals are kept there. “This means that dogs will in fact be taken to deserts and jungles and left there to die because these pets are mostly domesticated animals. This is against our religious and cultural teachings,” he explained.

Another animal rights activist told Rooz, “This bill clearly ignores the rights that animals have. This law is in fact merely to fight the keeping of dogs as pets. Who in this country has a monkey as a pet or takes them to a part or the street? Naming other animals in the bill is simply to cover up the real intention of fighting dogs.”

Among those who initiated this bill are Mojtaba Rahmandoost, Elias Naderi, Ahmad Salek, Nader Ghazipoor, Alireza Mahboob, and Fatemeh Olia. According to their bill any person who ignores the orders of the law enforcement agents will be fined to pay monetary compensation.

The only individuals who are exempt from this bill and can keep animals are law enforcement agencies, licence holding hunters, farmers, and owners of herds. Ahmadi pointed out that even there appears to be an exception in the bill, but in reality if a hunter tries to take his dog to the vet and is caught on a street, what are they going to do with him. “In the Qoran, there isn’t a single verse that says that a dog is not clean. On the contrary, Islam advices to be kind to animals. It is cruel to take a domesticated animal and throw them into a desert or a jungle. A dog would die because of this,” he said.

This animal rights activist said that animals have been subjected to cruelty in recent years. “Dogs are treated the worst. This is not the first time they want to confiscate domesticated dogs and separate them from their families.”

Last year news reports indicated that dogs had been forcefully rounded by police agents and confiscated from their owners and then taken to spots in Kahrizak. Then came the news that a third of the 150 dogs that were rounded up there died,” he said.

About a month ago, Ahmadreza Radan, the deputy chief of police said this about confronting dogs last year: “We will not allow anyone to take their dogs into the street or carry them in their car and display them to the public.”

In response to the claims that dogs create a health problem for the public, this animal advocate said, “The legislators should be asked whether dogs in other countries have created any health hazards. There are regulations regarding hygiene and other health aspects of pets whose owners must and do follow. These pets are not separated from their owners and then let die.”