Dog Killing Suspect in Ardabil Province Sentenced to 74 Lashes

An official from the Environmental Protection Organization announced that a court in Ardabil province has sentenced a suspect in a dog killing case in the city of Bileh Savar last year to 74 lashes and one year of weekly training sessions on how to handle animals. According to Mehr News Agency, Ibrahim Rahimi, head of the Environmental Protection Agency in Bileh Savar, announced on Wednesday, April 18, that the general court of Jafarabad has sentenced the 'offender' in the notorious dog killing case to 74 lashes. Mr. Rahimi stated that this individual has also been sentenced to attend the Bileh Savar Environmental Protection Agency once a week for a year to receive training on how to treat animals and respect their rights. In March of last year, a video of the abuse of several dogs, which led to the death of one of them, was circulated on social media. Following this, Reza Mousavi, the director of the Environmental Protection in Ardabil province, announced on March 12 that the suspect in the dog killing had been arrested. According to Mr. Mousavi, this individual had abused several dogs that were 'in the mating process' and had shared the video on social media. In recent months, reports of dog abuse have led to protests from a group of animal rights advocates. In early April, after videos of the abuse of pet dogs by a young woman named Marsedeh Malekshahi were released, a group of animal rights advocates gathered in front of her house and filed a complaint against her. Previously, on March 3, after a video of a dog being abused in Golestan province was released, several animal rights advocates and some actors, including Hedieh Tehrani, Mitra Hajjar, and Shohreh Soltani, gathered in front of the Environmental Protection Organization. Following these protests, it was announced that Bahram Mohammad Ovezadeh, the assailant of this hunting dog, had been arrested by the environmental protection forces in Golestan province. Meanwhile, reports indicate that after a gathering of about 70 animal rights advocates in Laleh Park on April 13, Hedieh Tehrani along with sixteen participants were 'arrested and interrogated' for several hours.