Anti-pet lawmakers say the practice could gradually change the Iranian and Islamic way of life by replacing human and family relationships with feelings and emotional relationships towards animals.
DAVID AVERRE: Dog shelter workers are protesting President Ebrahim Raisi’s regime in Iran after authorities allegedly stormed their compound and slaughtered up to 1,700 dogs. Heart-wrenching footage shared on social media showed one volunteer in floods of tears as she clasped one of the dead hounds in her arms. ‘This was the most vulnerable and obedient one,’ she cried, before the camera panned to show several canine corpses strewn across the roadside and a nearby valley…
The massacre comes with Iranian lawmakers set to pass a bill which would restrict pet ownership without possession of a special permit. It would also see considerable fines dished out for the ‘import, purchase and sale, transportation and keeping’ of many common pets, which some parliamentarians believe is a symbol of decadence which could ‘replace’ healthy family relationships…
The middle eastern nation was once one of the most tolerant with respect to pets, passing animal welfare laws as early as 1948 and pushing for the development of animal rights. But the 1979 Islamic Revolution drastically altered daily life for millions of Iranians, and dogs are now held in contempt by ultraconservative lawmakers.
The bill proposed late last year aims to rid Iranian society of the practice of keeping pets… Anti-pet lawmakers say the practice could ‘gradually change the Iranian and Islamic way of life’ by ‘replacing human and family relationships with feelings and emotional relationships towards animals’.
Their proposed law would prohibit ‘importing, raising, assisting in the breeding of, breeding, buying or selling, transporting, driving or walking, and keeping in the home wild, exotic, harmful and dangerous animals’. It lists the animals to be banned as ‘crocodiles, turtles, snakes, lizards, cats, mice, rabbits, dogs and other unclean animals as well as monkeys’…
There have already been reports in Iran of police officers making arrests on those walking their dogs or carrying pets in public. Tehran’s police chief General Hossein Rahimi announced on July 8 that entering the parks with dogs will be forbidden and police will consider and deal with it as illegal action. SOURCE…
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