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Dogs' Lives in Iran

"In our society dogs are the most vulnerable animals. The dogs that are brought here used to be in urban environments and were struggling with problems and needed help."
Ali Sani, manager, Vafa Animal Shelter

Iranian volunteers Roya Ahmadi, left, and Asal Moghaddam release dogs from their cages to feed them at the Vafa Animal Shelter in the city of Hashtgerd, Iran. Vahid Salemi / AP Photo

"Dog owners sometimes bring them to public, in buses for example, or let the dog stick its head out of a car window to show it to others. That is unacceptable."
"What made us consider drawing up such a bill was the increasing number of those who exhibit dogs by walking them in public."
Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, Iranian parliamentarian

It's hardly surprising that in most Muslim countries companion pets are frowned upon, particularly dogs. They are held to be unclean and to be avoided as purported carriers of disease. But in a country like Iran they are also associated with disdained practices of the West. To own a pet is definitely un-Islamic. There is a real disconnect with nature and the place of animals in the world of mankind within Islam.

To say that dogs "needed help" as did the manager of the country's only animal shelter, is to understate the plight of dogs in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are generally shot on sight. While tradition in Islam is that cats are to be esteemed and where people tend to leave food out for feral cats stray dogs are considered a public nuisance, equated with rats grown oversized.

Dog ownership is considered to be a reflection of Western influence and derided. And nor can dog owners expect to walk their dogs in public without notice. Conservative lawmakers in the country have called for pet dogs to be banned. Similar to the banning of Western-oriented music and fashions. With a move afoot to consider criminalizing dog owners if they persist in taking their dogs outside.

If they keep the animal indoors, not to be seen by others and thus not polluting the visual environment, that might be considered to be permissible. This, in the obvious spirit of generosity and forgiveness within the Islamic tradition. Dog walking is officially banned, and so is the habit of some dog owners permitting their dogs to pt their heads out of car windows.

In response to such flagrant flouting of Iranian values and decency thirty lawmakers have signed a draft bill to punish dog walkers with up to $3,000 in fines and 74 lashes. This is an issue, the state censure of dogs in public, that dates to the Iranian Revolution of 1976 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from France with the unseating of Shah Pahlavi to return strict Islamist rule to Iran.

Under strict Islamist rule Iran stands as a beacon of free humanity and staunch upholding of human rights where the death penalty is meted out for 'crimes' that might appears anywhere else to be relatively minor. Iran executes more people annually than any other country in the world, oppresses its minorities and recognizes no religion other than Islam.

It is the world's foremost supporter of terrorism and seeks nuclear arms to cement its aspiration as the greatest power in the Middle East.

And it conducts a lethal conflict with dogs. But there is one licensed animal refuge in the country, not far from Tehran where the shelter rescues stray dogs who would otherwise be shot, disposed of by municipal workers tasked to that operation. Some 500 dogs are cared for and given affection at the Vafa Animal Shelter which a private endowment established in 2004.

The shelter's manager in an interview explained that authorities have supported the shelter's work because it gathers together dogs, keeping them out of the public arena, and neutering them.

Conservatives have sought to impose their version of Islam on society and rid it of Western influence. But their efforts have met with resistance, particularly from younger, more urban and more well-off Iranians.   Vahid Salemi / AP Photo

Labels: Animal Welfare, Iran, Islamism, Social-Cultural Deviations

posted by Pieface @ Friday, December 12, 2014