April 29, 2009
Iran's Harassment of Dog Owners
The harassment of dog owners in Iran is nothing new. In the past, Iranian officials have decried dog ownership, declaring dogs to be "unclean" and denouncing people with pets as being under the influence of Western cultures. As a consequence, dog owners in Iran have endured ongoing harassment from the authorities, including warnings and fines. Despite this intimidation, the rate of pet ownership has continued to rise. But periodically, Iranian officials come down particularly hard on dog owners.
The most recent incident occurred in autumn 2007. As part of a crackdown on "immoral and un-Islamic behavior," the Iranian government declared dog walking illegal and began seizing and detaining owned dogs.
As news of the persecution spread, Humane Society International (HSI) issued a formal letter of protest and Bernard Unti, senior policy advisor for HSI, participated in a one-hour Voice of America Farsi-language broadcast on the subject that reached an estimated 14 million Iranian homes.
In mid-October, following an international outcry, the Iranian authorities backed away from their policy on dog walking and the roundups ended.
- Harassment of petkeepers abates in Iran after HSI protests: November 8, 2007
- For dogs, better news from Iran: November 7, 2007
Harassment of petkeepers abates in Iran after HSI protests
Several months of harassment of dog owners by officials in Tehran subsided in mid-October after an international outcry that included a formal letter of protest from Humane Society International (HSI) and a one-hour Voice of America Farsi-language broadcast on the subject that reached an estimated 14 million Iranian homes.
The crackdown
Using the rationale that petkeeping was a Western fetish inconsistent with Islamic principles, authorities in Iran’s capital had warned citizens not to take their dogs outside and had seized a number of owned animals for impoundment at a remote facility.
With pet owners Tehran living in fear of having their dogs taken away by the police, HSI senior policy adviser Bernard Unti appeared for a full hour on September 29 on “Roundtable With You,” a Voice of America television show with a large viewing audience in Iran. Taking calls directly from citizens in Tehran struggling to protect their animals under the policy, Unti heard accounts of people afraid to take their animals to the park, to the veterinarian’s office, or to any public place.
Unti also authored HSI’s September 19 letter protesting the policy to Iran’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations. The letter deplored the harassment of petkeepers, the prohibition on walking dogs in public and the confiscation of dogs by police.
A historical basis for petkeeping
The crackdown, Unti argued, was based on fundamental misinterpretations of Islamic views on animals and the social history of petkeeping. In his letter and during his Voice of America appearance, Unti cited positive evidence of concern for animals from the Qu’ran and other Islamic sources, and disputed the validity of officials' interpretations of certain ahadith (oral traditions relating to the life and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh)) frequently cited in an attempt to deter petkeeping and concern for animals.
Moreover, far from being a Western phenomenon incompatible with Islamic tradition, he contended, petkeeping has been popular in a wide range of cultures across both space and time. During the VOA broadcast, Unti pointed out recent archaeological findings that showed people and their pets being buried together in ancient Iran.
A rising concern for animal welfare
Both petkeeping and concern for stray animals in Iran have been on the rise in recent years, and in 2003, Iranians launched the first animal shelter in their country, VAFA. Since its founding, VAFA, approximately 50 miles outside of Tehran, has saved hundred of homeless dogs, spaying and neutering them and helping to find suitable human families for them.
The petkeeping trend in Iran closely parallels those of a number of other non-Western nations. In China, for example, where authorities have carried out a series of mass roundups fo dogs, resistance from an emerging class of petkeepers has remained strong.
The cause of animal welfare is gaining ground throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and a major conference for groups in the region is scheduled for December 13-15, 2007 in Cairo, Egypt. One hoped-for outcome for such a conference would be the formation of a regional confederation.
HSI has supported a number of groups in the region, providing funds, practical advice, and scholarships to allow their representatives to attend Animal Care Expo and other HSI-sponsored training events.
For dogs, better news from Iran
By Bernard Unti
Bernard Unti, senior policy adviser for Humane Society International (HSI), was recently invited to appear on Voice of America's "Roundtable With You" broadcast into Iran to discuss an official crackdown on dog ownership in that country.
“I am so worried and upset, I can’t take them out. All three dogs look at me, wanting to go outside, and I can’t take them.”
The pain in the woman’s voice was evident, although 6,000 miles separated us. She was calling from Tehran, Iran, and I was in Washington, D.C., a guest on "Roundtable With You," a Farsi-language television broadcast by the Voice of America (VOA) to an estimated nightly audience of 14 million people in Iran.
Hers was the first call during a Friday, September 28 program focusing on the harassment of dog owners in Iran's capital city. News accounts had told of authorities rounding up and confiscating dogs from their owners after religious leaders decided that pets were some kind of Western secular fetish. In a letter to Iran’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations, I criticized the policy; the subsequent publicity landed me an appearance on the VOA program.
Listening to the interpreter’s translation of the anguished woman’s call, I felt my emotions rise. “I'm sorry for your distress, and I can imagine how difficult this must be,” I said. "But your dogs rely on you to look out for them, and I'm sure you're doing what you think is best. This threat is not going to last forever.”
I had spent the initial half hour of the program talking with the host, Ahmad Baharloo, about the status of animals in Islam and the news reports that had prompted my letter. I challenged the notion that petkeeping was a materialistic, nonreligious affectation of European culture, citing archeological evidence of people being buried with their pets in ancient Iran, along with supporting passages from the Qu'ran.
My emotions continued to run high as more calls came in, some from citizens living under the policy and some from people concerned about animal suffering in other contexts. Tehran was a world away, but in most respects, it was no different from doing a call-in show from Toledo, Ohio. In two decades of animal protection work, I had done this show a hundred times...
And yet not. This show—and my whole experience in the studio that day—left me exhilarated, but distressed. These callers were animal lovers fighting a cruel and repressive religious edict. I couldn't stop thinking about the woman and her dogs, and others like them. Their story haunted me for days. I kept trying to think of additional steps we could take.
As it turned out, what we did may have been enough. Several weeks later, we received reports that Tehran authorities had backed away from the policy. Then the VOA producers called to say that sources in Iran believed that the television program had been the silver bullet.
How could we be sure it was even true? I wondered. At VOA's invitation, I went on the show again. It was another Friday, November 2. The mood was different this time—less urgent, I thought—and I felt doubtful.
Responding to the host's questions, I spoke about the broader picture for animal welfare in the Persian Gulf states. But I was really looking forward to the phone calls, hoping that someone in Tehran would call in to confirm the facts.
Someone did. It was the woman with the three dogs. The first call, again. The roundups and harassment had ended, she said, and all was well. In her voice, in her words, the basic instinct of goodness toward animals and the fundamental desire for justice for them, came through loud and clear. The ethic of kindness knows no boundaries.
She thanked me for speaking out. No, thank you, I thought to myself. Thank you.