IRAN: Pet-product advertising banned as dog owners come under fire

Iranian authorities are cracking down, but this time their target isn't political dissidents or drug traffickers. It's dogs.

Or rather, pets in general. This week, Ayatollah Nasser Makkarem Shirazi, a powerful cleric, issued a fatwa that was later passed into law banning any advertisements about pets or alluding to the buying, selling or keeping of pets, according to the Mehr news agency.

The fatwa was issued in response to a question by the country's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which serves as Iran's censor. 

The ministry's Advertisement and Information Dissemination Office  vowed to crack down on ads promoting pet foods, especially for cats and dogs.

In June, Shirazi issued a fatwa against keeping dogs as pets, although that ruling was not made into law. At the time, Shirazi slammed dog owners for "blindly imitating the West," which, he said, would result in "evil outcomes."

"Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children," he said.

The fatwa cites Islamic tradition, which dictates dogs are unclean based on testimonies from the followers of the prophet Mohammad known as hadith.

Keeping dogs as pets has become fashionable among Iranians in recent years, especially among well-to-do urban families. Although pet dogs are not technically illegal, walking a dog in a public place like a park can earn the owner a hefty fine.

A report on Shirazi's fatwa against pet dogs that appeared in the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper speculated that the crackdown on pets may have more to do with class politics than Islamic law. The ruling conservative party has traditionally championed the working class while painting opposition activists as frivolous, corrupt cosmopolitans.

“The authorities can’t stop people from buying expensive cars or clothes and jewelery,” an unnamed analyst in Tehran told the paper. “But they can prevent them from displaying their wealth by keeping pet dogs on the grounds that they are unclean.”

But  rather than discourage people from buying dogs, one pet-shop owner reported an increase in the sale of small dogs that are easy to hide.

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

Photo: Pet owners at a veterinary clinic in Isfahan. Credit: Mehr News

Comments

[LS]

I bet this article is going to make a lot of people's jaws drop to the floor - No different from ANY other religion with "man made laws" claiming "divine laws" or laws of god (s) - no women as clerics, no education for women, no pork, no slow dancing, no this, no that, no rights for gays or blacks (talking to you Mormons) -behold the giant mirror to all of you -look at yourselves! What jaw dropping "fatwa" do YOU have in your organized religion?

[Eric]

Just another evil and sick part of Iranian politics. Gays are hanged, women are stoned to death, honor killings are tolerated, and the society is simply not free. Where is the outrage in the world against places like North Korea and Iran? UN doesn't seem to be able to improve lives in this evil regimes.

[T]

If someone loves thier dog more than their wives or children, how is that the dog's fault?

[runcatalina]

This story makes that Muslim women complaining that Disney won't let her wear a scarf look tame. She should just be quiet or go live in a Islam-adhearing country. Geez.

[Roy luevano]

Please drop the bomb on these people. Mohammed is satan.....

[alwaysatrojan]

That's it, now they have pissed off PETA!

[maddogg]

This is Sharia Law and is another reason we must be vigilant and not let any vestiges of Islamic control enter our country. Or we are doomed.

[Chris Miss]

They won't even let us love our pets? What kind of sick sick sick mind dislikes dogs? You know, there is something WRONG w/ Islam.

[Charles Downs]

Just nuke them. They are miserable people.

[Josh]

Should serve as a lesson to lunatic fringes of all religions that you really shouldn't even think about trying to impose your "morality" on anyone else. Of course, it won't be. It'll be gristle for the rabid anti-muslim (brown people) racists to chew on. Awesome. Stupid and racist religious lunatics, meet stupid and racist religious lunatics.

[Tom]

Does PETA have operations in Iran? This anti-pets edict would be like manna from heaven for them!

[Bad Newz Kennelz]

I agree with Iran on this. dogs are worthless. dog-owners are even worse. they don't share the sidewalk. not everyone gives a crap about Toto. not everyone wants a nasty mut sniffing and licking on them. for christ's sake, pick up your dog's poop. i've reported three people to the cops after watching them leave behind dog excrement. dogs in this country have better food and homes than so many HUMANS, it's disgusting. how many homeless people are there in this city, in this country? i'm not pro-Iran, but i LOVE this policy

[Ed C.]

Iranian pet owners:

Take your pets as you bail out of Iran.

[Kaonashi]

Prohibitions against dogs are nowhere to be found in the Koran; in fact, they stem from some rather weak hadith, or comments by those who supposedly knew Mohammed regarding his supposed intentions. Google the subject for some fascinating background and commentary.

[EB]

But surely there were dogs in the 12th century????

[boochie]

Gotta love those wacky Muslims!

[Betty Boop]

Good thing they want to build a center of tolerance near Ground Zero. Just don't walk your dogs past it.

[DRE DAWG]

Bless my life that I don't live in Iran!!!

[truth to power]

I'm all for religious tolerance but just how is keeping a pet against anything in the Koran?
Seems to me that not unlike politicians, when religious leaders of all faiths reach a level of power they also go kind of mad.

[inbox1909]

This is a country that sentences women to death by burying them up to their necks, and throwing rocks at their heads until they die in agony, and they consider dogs unclean?