Iran just lately expanded the ban on canine strolling in cities apart from Tehran, however an increasing number of Iranians are accepting canine possession as an act of insurrection towards the thesis regime.
“Dog strolling is a risk to public well being, peace and luxury,” declared a prosecutor within the metropolis of Hamedan within the western area.
Another Illam prosecutor has vowed to “authorized motion.” Mashhad’s chief prosecutor informed reporters Monday that the Walking Dogs was a “clear crime” dedicated “within the identify of harassment of girls and kids.”
Iran’s hostility in direction of canine is predicated on the Islamic custom of viewing animals as “impregnant.” Advertising for pet-related objects was banned in 2010 by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Leadership, and in 2014 the Iranian parliament believed it was whipping as an applicable punishment for canine pedestrians.
In 2017, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated he owns canine for some cause apart from “grass, looking, and safety.”
“If this observe is much like that of non-Muslims, it’s thought of prohibited for selling their tradition or inflicting hurt and obstruction to their neighbors,” Khamenei declared. He continues to problem fatwa, or spiritual order, and declares Muslim prayers to be “invalid”, if held within the presence of canine hair, and canine saliva renders what it touches “impurity”.
In 2021, a gaggle of Iranian lawmakers denounced canine possession as a “damaging social problem” that might “step by step change the way in which Iran and Islamic way of life.”
The administration by no means banned pets nationwide, however native governments have imposed restrictions on strolling them or in any other case displaying them in public locations. At least 19 cities have imposed restrictions on canine strolling.
The enforcement of those bans was uneven in Tehran. Rebels have accepted canine as symbols of insurrection, and canine possession reportedly has elevated, particularly amongst youthful Iranians.
“Pets, together with canine, have turn into important to Iran’s household tradition, even spiritual individuals. Whether authorities approve it or not, we can not rule out hundreds of thousands of pets in Iran,” Tehran veterinarian Dr Damun Ansari informed the Left-wing Outlet New York Times (NYT) on Monday.
NYT identified that Tehran solely owns one pet clinic on the flip of the century, however now there are solely dozens of pet clinics. Dr. Ansari referred to as the development to broaden pet possession “unstoppable.”
Al Monitor had no issues filming many Tehran residents sitting with their canine in a public park on Sunday.
Iranians arrive with canine behind bikes at Tehran parks on June 8, 2025 (by Atta Kenare/AFP by way of Getty Images)
Some Iranians on social media have dismissed the report as “nonsense,” and have questioned why the regime wasted time and power on cracking down when Iran has many different points.
Meanwhile, the Iran Wire, a opposition information service, has discovered an Iranian who’s nervous in regards to the ban and frightened in regards to the security of their canine. The Iran Wire urged that there was a great cause for them to worry, as new crusades towards canine originate from Tehran, not from Tehran, however from “cities that served as labs of the Islamic Republic to check the interdisciplinary insurance policies of faith.”
Iran’s state media has laid the muse for crackdowns over the previous few months, denounced canine walks as a logo of crime that rampifies canine walks and runs articles that hyperlink canine possession to “parasitoid illnesses,” “mattress wetting,” “PTSD” and “PTSD” amongst kids.
“This media push gave the officers a canopy and made it seem to be a restriction that basically got here from above,” Iran Wire noticed.
Another ominous cause for canine crackdowns is that lonely, disgruntled Iranians look to canine for courting and emotional help, and ladies typically depend on them for protection, so the administration hopes to decrease morale a stressed inhabitants by threatening canine.