Iran authorities expand dog walking ban

Dog paws (Pexels/Engin Akyurt)

Tehran, Iran -- Iranian authorities have expanded a ban on walking dogs in public to multiple cities nationwide, citing public health, social order and safety concerns, domestic media reported Sunday.

The ban -- which echoes a 2019 police directive that barred walking dogs in Tehran -- was expanded to Ilam city in the west on Sunday, according to reports.

At least 17 other cities introduced similar bans in recent days, including Isfahan in the centre and Kerman in the south.

Owning and walking dogs has been a contentious topic since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, though there is no law outrightly banning dog ownership.

Many religious scholars however consider petting dogs or coming into contact with their saliva as “najis” or ritually impure, while some officials view them as a symbol of Western cultural influence.

Local authorities have periodically introduced bans on walking dogs in public spaces or carrying them in vehicles as part of a wider campaign to discourage their ownership.

Enforcing the restrictions has been largely inconsistent, as many owners continue to walk their dogs in Tehran and elsewhere across Iran.

On Sunday, the reformist Etemad newspaper quoted an official from Ilam city as saying that “legal action will be taken against violators”, without elaborating.

On Saturday, the state newspaper Iran said the latest measures are aimed at “maintaining public order, ensuring safety and protecting public health”.

“Dog walking is a threat to public health, peace and comfort,” said Abbas Najafi, prosecutor of the western city of Hamedan, as quoted by Iran newspaper.

In 2021, some 75 lawmakers condemned pet ownership as a “destructive social problem”, saying it could “gradually change the Iranian and Islamic way of life”.

In 2017, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that “keeping dogs for reasons other than herding, hunting and guard dogs is considered reprehensible”.

“If this practise resembles that of non-Muslims, promotes their culture or causes harm and disturbance to neighbours, it is deemed forbidden,” he added, according to Tasnim news agency.