Iranian dog lovers are facing a crackdown by the government, which is rounding up their pets as part of the “vulgar Western culture” of canine ownership. The confiscation of the dogs is part of an order issued by local prosecutor Mohsen Boosaidi in Shahin Shahr in Isfahan province. Many Muslims view dogs as unclean and anti-Islamic.
Iranians are being told that they can collect their pets after vaccinations but, when they appear to collect their pets, they are told that there is no record of the animals. There are many Iranians who love dogs and challenge the view that keeping dogs is “haram” or prohibited under Islam.
In the meantime, extremists like Boosaidi are destroying the happiness of families by taking away their pets in the name of Islam.
If you want your dogs, then don’t let them run free to let their pointless aggression (or friendliness, for that matter–probably the bigger problem) on other people.
I would love if there were no dogs in our society.
Dogs Need Love Too!
–Sticker on a car in Iran
for what it’s worth – I agree with Jistice Holmes’ post in that “Not even animals are safe from theocrats …”
Very sad state of affairs indeed. the proud descendants of the once-great Persian Empire which has blessed the world so richly with their arts and poetry has been hijacked by the theocrats. I am very familiar with the overthrow of democractically elected Mossadegh by the CIA for our “cousins” in the UK so they could retain control of oil in Iran, but now those people have access to the internet – so it remains to be seen if they have the will and fortitude to organize and fight against the powerful Mullahs who are controlling their nation. Can, or will they stand up? It remains to be seen..
s
Correction – I was thinking about the bomb sniffing dogs of Kuwait, not Pakistan (which also has issues with killing dogs.)
Let’s address the “we are just as bad” lien of reasoning.
Pet ownership is legal, and our culture values pets. Pet lovers are quite common in the US. We have laws against neglect and abuse of pets. We require proof of rabies vaccination. There are cases where police officers shoot dogs because they felt threatened. Some of those cases are justified, and some are not. Both end up in the news to round condemnation. Unjustified shooting of a pet can be sued.
Let’s compare with the plight of pets in the ME. (There are also other countries where dogs are not valued, such as China and Russia, but this article is about the specific religion prohibition against dogs as haram.) There are contradictions in Islam regarding dogs. Dog saliva is considered ritually unclean. If its saliva touches a utensil, it has to be washed 7 times and then rubbed with Earth, if I recall correctly. They are not to be kept in the house. There are hadiths about the killing of dogs. However, there were also stories about Mohammed taking care not to disturb a nursing dog, and the general enjoinder not to be cruel to animals in general.
Regardless of the fact that you can interpret Islam to allow you to keep a dog as a pet, at least outside, the grim reality is that they are considered dirty and repulsive in Muslim countries. Sadly, every Ramadan, there is an influx of healthy animals brought to be put down because their owners feel guilty about having them because of Islam. Or there are dogs that suffer needlessly from treatable diseases, because their owners won’t take them to the vet because they are unclean to touch. And there are not enough efforts at spay/neuter and rabies vaccination. The latter is the biggest problem. In areas where there is not high vaccination rates and veterinary care, one would view a loose dog as potentially diseased or rabid. Theoretically, you can argue that Muslims can keep dogs, and many do. But there is no disputing the facts that Muslim culture is hostile to dogs, statistically.
Youth in Iran often tend to be very pro-Western. They like the clothes, hair, music, and freedom. Occasionally, the religious police and imams try to shove them back into oppression. Although the government is very anti-Western, and schools begin their day, literally, with a chant of “Death to America! Death to Israel!”, it is possible that one day the younger generation will prevail.
What is sad is that it is already too late for these dogs. The moderate Muslims who loved their dogs have lost their pets. And since there are poor individual rights in Iran, there is no recourse against their government. If people think that owning a dog is dirty and haram, fine, don’t own a dog. But you shouldn’t take other people’s pets away from them.
On another note, Pakistan just killed hundreds of healthy bomb sniffing dogs when their contract with an American company ran out. They took lots of pictures of them gleefully piling up the beautiful dead bodies.
Sickening.
There is indeed a wide range in attitudes about dogs. I think the country that rates the highest in pet ownership and the love of dogs is UK. China, Russia, and the entire ME ranks among the lowest.
Perfect Justice: Imam Mahdi makes his appearance with his beloved dogs beside him and orders the execution of the Iranian Prosecutor and any other Muslim refusing to treat his dogs with the same kindness and love as they would treat him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi
Posner is brilliant! Finally, real free (and thoughtful) speech.
G.Mason, Becker is no longer alive but did you ever read the Becker-Posner blog**?
I don’t agree with everything His Honor writes and I think he’s a bit of hypocrite when it comes to releasing some of his personal data*, however the B-P blog does provide some great reading. I think Posner has a great book for college freshman as well as those that might be interested ; “The little book of Plagiarism”
** http://www.becker-posner-blog.com
* https://theintercept.com/2014/12/08/bad-shameful-dirty-secrets-u-s-judge-richard-posner-hiding-demand-know/
Considering Zionist genocide of Palestinians, Christian Fundamentalist terrorism against doctors and Muslim terrorism against dogs and humans, indeed religion has been hijacked by Satan.
Religious mindsets are “unclean”.
Not even animals are safe from theocrats it seems.
Standard protocol for US police officers today is to simply shoot any dog that approaches them. There is quite a bit of video up on youtube showing them shooting dogs needlessly. Often while they are chained up even.
What makes this worse is, there is no accountability for these acts. Police face no consequences for killing someones pet.
Anytime an officer draws his weapon there should be a review as to why. Anytime he fires it there should be an investigation as to why.
As for Iran and dogs. This is a very very hard to watch tragic video that will outrage any dog owner. I give you those words of warning before viewing.
Given the Muslim proclivity for widespread kidnapping and rape–think Boko Haram, think the atrocities with regard to the Yazidis–I’d say that those poor pooches have been captured, raped and turned into wives for these barbaric savages. You can spot these missing dogs in the streets–covered in long dresses and headscarves–only the dogs are less hairy than the their human and female counterparts.
Another important link
https://puppycidedb.com/
I apologize btw for hijacking this thread.
Our own nation has its own issues with government and dogs.
https://www.facebook.com/DogsShotbyPolice/
Who is the Posner guy? What does he have to do with Iran?
This republic has entered a state of Constitutional crisis. This is not hyperbole. Great damage has already been done by all 3 branches for quite some time. This confession of Posner just confirms what many have suspected of the judicial at large.
I would also suggest that this brings into question for subject of review any decision, especially recent ones, that Posner has made. He has clearly stated that he places no value in following the Constitution. His judgements cannot be considered trustworthy as following proper law.
Sadly I fear we have 2 more like him on the Supreme Court.
We created this when the CIA wrecked the Iranian govt in 1953 in the interest of US and British Oil companies.
Btw Professor Turley, did you see this?
Richard Posner must be immediately impeached and removed. There is no validity or worth to any judgement he makes in light of this disturbing information. Apparently he views the Constitution as nothing more than toilet paper.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/27/richard-posner-no-value-in-studying-us-constitutio/
Judge Richard Posner: ‘No value’ in studying the U.S. Constitution