The Impact of Dog Killings on Iran's Environment

"Dogs are impure." This phrase has been repeated in many religious texts by Shia religious authorities. The condemnation of dogs has been mentioned in various Shia sources through inquiries or Q&A sessions, stating that "saliva, urine, skin, and hair of dogs" are not permissible unless they are "guardians." In most of these sources, dogs are equated with pigs, regarded as equally impure and unclean, requiring extensive washing of their saliva and feces, with numerous conditions mentioned for their maintenance. Perhaps this is why dog killings in Iran are carried out by government organizations through various contracts and in different forms across cities, with few officials reacting to it. Dog killings are usually the loudest in the capital. The dog killings in Tehran peaked in the 1980s. After years of silence, according to the website of provincial municipalities, tens of thousands of stray dogs have been killed across Iran, yet the number of street dogs continues to rise. The head of the Animal Rights Defense Association told the Etemad newspaper that about five or six years ago, a directive was issued to municipalities stating that dogs should be "captured alive," tested with anesthetics, and then euthanized. According to this association, killing dogs with bullets is against the laws of the municipality and the Ministry of Interior. Hooman Malookpour, a veterinarian and animal surgeon in Tehran, says that he and his colleagues have proposed ways to the municipality to participate in capture projects for free: "For several years, we have told municipal officials to prepare just one location so that we can perform sterilization and parasite treatment of these animals without any cost. The rest of the conditions will be supported by the people willingly. However, this method is still being carried out under the worst conditions, and animals are killed by gunfire. All dogs that are shot do not necessarily die immediately and may travel a distance while injured and bleeding, posing a risk to environmental health. Witnessing these scenes is not appropriate for children and citizens." The municipality of a city like Kelardasht invites hunters to assist in hunting dogs in the city or, as stated in the municipality's announcement, to control the population of "stray dogs." In Rasht, the municipality announces that dog killings will be carried out in the city from 1 to 5 AM. This means shooting at animals that are considered impure in jurisprudence and public thought, and killing them is deemed acceptable. Although in three chapters of the Quran—Al-Kahf, Al-A'raf, and Al-Ma'idah—dogs are mentioned, there is no reference to their purity or impurity. While in various Shia jurisprudence texts, the ruling on trained dogs is considered separately, which are used for guarding farms, factories, and herds or in hunting and searching for contraband, which is not problematic from an Islamic ruling perspective as long as hygiene is maintained. Although it has been emphasized in the texts of religious authorities that "causing harm to animals is not permissible, and Islam does not allow even stray dogs to be harmed unless they pose a danger." These dogs are usually healthy animals that breed easily. They are accused of having rabies and leishmaniasis, which may infect humans. These diseases should be diagnosed at the Pasteur Institute or laboratories, and animal rights activists say they have not been seen among dogs in Iran for years. A part that, according to Hooman Malookpour, is treatable and preventable, and there is no need for such high costs for the animals that are killed.