Urban Animals: From Care to Trade

As winter approaches, autumn will gradually rustle everywhere. We go home every night from the cold of the city to our warm houses, but the animals that spend their days and nights in the streets remain in the cold. Dogs, cats, birds. Reports from the past year indicate an increase in urban animals, especially cats, in the streets of the city. At one point, the Tehran municipality announced a plan to collect city dogs using paintball guns. There was even talk of poisoning some urban animals. Many suggested not to feed the hungry city cats so that they would gradually decrease. Many citizens consider urban animals to be contaminated or carriers of disease. Despite this, the city is still home to many cats and dogs. Omid Toucheh, an animal rights activist in Tehran, takes care of several cats: "There are a number of negative and incorrect beliefs in our society regarding animals. Most of them are superstitious. There are beliefs that some animals may bring bad luck, some animals may cause diseases, if a woman touches them, she may become infertile, or if their hair is in food, it may lead to incurable diseases. And no matter how much activists in this field and veterinarians explain that these beliefs are wrong and have no scientific basis, unfortunately, they do not accept it. Sometimes one observes that especially in some parks where people feed cats, after a while, many of them are found dead. The first thing that comes to mind is that some people do not like this and put rat poison in the animals' food, preventing others from helping. However, some things have changed; alongside the complaints of animal rights advocates, the city has also witnessed changes. Omid Toucheh believes that the increase in pet ownership among people is one of the factors changing citizens' perspectives and softening their behavior towards urban animals: "In the past five years, as the number of pets in our country has increased, we can see its impact on people's behavior in the streets. A person who has a pet at home, when they encounter this animal closely, reflects this in their behavior in the city. The level of assistance to injured, sick, and accident-stricken animals in the city, in all cities of Iran - compared to larger cities, which of course this culture is spreading to smaller cities - is incomparable to the past. Previously, if someone saw an injured or sick animal, they considered it part of that animal's fate and did not react much. But now, just look at the veterinary clinics in Tehran, which have really increased compared to a few years ago; this shows that [besides the fact that] the culture of pet ownership is becoming widespread, the number of people seeking help for injured street animals has significantly increased." Ms. Jabali is another animal rights activist in Tehran. She and her family have established a center for treating and sheltering hungry and sick cats in the capital of Iran. She believes that the increase in the cat population is related to climate change: "The number of cats increased because their population was not controlled, the climate of Iran changed completely, and winters became warmer, leading cats to give birth three to four times a year instead of once or twice, and their population was uncontrolled. One reason for the increased pollution is the mechanized trash bins; cats are constantly in these bins. Previously, trash was on the streets, exposed to sunlight, and the sun eliminated many viruses, diseases, bacteria, and fungi. Now the trash does not get sunlight, and these bins have become a source of pollution, and cats constantly find food in these bins. The same goes for dogs; it doesn't matter." Ms. Jabali talks about small efforts by small groups to help urban animals: "We have monthly contributions ranging from three thousand tomans to, for example, 500 thousand tomans. In the past forty days, we rescued 17 sick cases that were treated, with the help of forty to fifty people." Young Journalists Club reports that the cat population in Tehran is larger than that of about 280 cities in Iran. This report states that over 320,000 cats live in Tehran. Have the capital's citizens been educated for peaceful coexistence with these animals? Have children learned the difference between playing with animals and animal abuse? Omid Toucheh: "It is impossible not to encounter scenes of animal abuse by children in spaces where cats and children are present. A child's pure and innocent mind can only harm another being when it has no sense of shame about it and has not been educated about it. I once had a personal experience in one of the spaces in Tehran, where I was explaining to a child that what they were doing was wrong and that the animal was in pain. The child's parents seriously asked what had happened, and I explained the situation to them, and they defended their child's actions in front of them, saying that there are many cats here and it is nothing; the child is just chasing them for fun and scaring them." Just a few months ago, the Iranian Minister of Justice announced the intensification of penalties for animal abusers. Animal welfare associations, rehabilitation centers, and shelters have also increased in number over the years. However, as Ms. Jabali says, not all of these shelters are safe: "In these enclosures - for example, an 18-meter enclosure - we see 20 dogs. They jump on each other, bite each other, become agitated, get hungry, and in summer, they become thirsty, but there are places that really keep 40 to 50 dogs, and these are dogs that should live freely, but they are chained - both healthy and injured dogs. Healthy dogs want to be free, and then one Friday, they film for an hour in these shelters and rehabilitation centers, and during the week, they post one minute of this film on their Instagram, and people believe that they are free and living well and happily. They take a sick cat, share its pictures, and collect money in various groups; now either the cat is really treated or they release it. The same goes for dogs. Suddenly it becomes clear that a dog has ten sponsors. And since we do not have an animal protection law, no one can stop these actions unless their hands are revealed to the public. Parks like Qeytarieh and Laleh are currently gathering places for cats. If a cat is injured or broken, it has a good chance that one of the morning joggers or citizens sitting on the park benches will help it. Stray dogs in the city do not have less chance, although, as Ms. Jabali says, sometimes, which does not happen infrequently, the story can completely change: "Now, you wouldn't believe it if a dog is paralyzed, there is a fight over it. Why? Because they make a piggy bank out of it. They collect money from it. They are not thinking about its treatment, and the longer its treatment takes and remains in this condition, the more it breaks people's hearts, and they collect money from it. It is much worse than you think. Some people want fame, some want money, and it is very difficult to find groups that publish their financial account statements." Alongside all this, however, nothing changes as quickly as the seasons. Just like now that it is October and winter is on the way. Omid Toucheh, an animal rights advocate in Tehran, says there are ways to take better care of them in the short term: "One of the things that cats do to warm themselves is to take shelter under car hoods, sit in the engine, or on the wheels. The smallest thing that anyone in the cities can do is to knock on the engine or the side of the car before starting it in the morning, so if an animal has taken shelter there from the cold, it can be saved and not face any problems. Cats and dogs are part of the city's population. A group of beings that have not joined urban life of their own will; human life has changed theirs.