February 15, 2019
The Tehran police have announced a total ban on walking or transporting dogs in the nation’s capital, saying the animals caused “fear and anxiety” in society.
The ban was announced January 29 by Tehran Police Chief Brig. Gen. Hossain Rahimi, who said the decision was made in a meeting with the Tehran prosecutor’s office.
He did not say what would happen to violators.
He said no one could walk a dog in a public area. In addition, “It is forbidden to drive dogs around in cars.”
Payam Mohebi, a Tehran veterinarian, asked, “How are veterinarians supposed to treat dogs if their owners are not allowed to take them out in public or drive them in their cars?”
The police decree was the latest move by ultra-conservatives to discourage dog ownership. It is frowned upon as rebellious, because conservatives see it as an imitation of Western culture and thus part and parcel of the Western cultural invasion. But dogs have also been viewed as unclean by many Islamic clerics for centuries, so opposition to dog ownership is not just some ideological invention of the post-1979 era.
In recent years, some dogs have been confiscated as their owners took them for walks. And a few years ago, the authorities said people could not take dogs in their cars, an order largely ignored. In 2014, a group of Majlis deputies introduced a bill to fine those walking dogs in public and subject them to as many as 74 lashes. The bill did not go anywhere.
The police chief did not explain under what authority he was banning an activity that the Majlis has declined to ban.
