Draft Bill Against Animal Cruelty Submitted to Government and Parliament

On Friday, November 21, the head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization announced the submission of a draft bill titled 'Combating Animal Cruelty' to the government. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Masoumeh Ebtekar stated that this bill was prepared 'in collaboration with experts, animal welfare organizations, and specialists' and has been submitted for review by the government. The ILNA news agency also reported that the bill has been approved by the government and presented to the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament). In her remarks, Ebtekar assigned the responsibility for organizing stray dogs and animals in urban and rural areas to the Ministry of Interior and municipalities, stating that the Environmental Protection Organization 'only supervises the organization of stray animals and does not have direct responsibility.' Ebtekar referred to dogs as 'part of the ecosystem' and added that they 'have benefits, and if not managed properly, they can cause problems.' According to the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, 'If all dogs in a rural or urban environment are eliminated, the population balance will definitely shift towards other animals such as wolves.' She described the 'presence of dogs in a controlled and managed manner, with a balanced population that does not cause problems and diseases' as a 'necessity.' The announcement of the draft bill comes after numerous reports of abuse against various animals in Iran. Previously, there were reports of the killing by poisoning or sterilization of stray dogs by the Tehran municipality, which faced severe criticism from environmental advocates. The continuous release of images and videos of animal abuse on social media has also prompted the head of the Cyber Crime Prevention Department of the Police to announce what he termed serious police action against animal abusers. In May of this year, Alireza Azar Derakhsh announced that the dissemination of images of animal abuse on social media constitutes 'violence,' and the Cyber Police will act against this violence according to the law. September 20 has been designated as 'Animal Violence Prevention Day' in Iran, and animal rights activists hope that this occasion will allow them to compare the status of animals in Iran annually and plan efforts to improve their conditions. Although, according to Islamic law, dogs and cats are not considered halal animals, Article 679 of the Islamic Penal Code states that 'anyone who intentionally and without necessity kills or poisons or damages a halal animal belonging to another or an animal whose hunting has been prohibited by the government will be sentenced to imprisonment from 91 days to six months or fined from 1.5 million to 3 million rials.'