To duck a question about the prosecution of gays in Iran, Ahmadinejad denied their existence in his country. I cannot but be curious whether he will also try to deny the existence of dogs there. No, I am not being facetious. Following reports of the increasing number of dog arrests in Tehran and the appalling conditions in dog prisons. After all, not everybody can be expected to be treated with “the gentleness and kindness” Haleh Esfandiari was during her days of solitary confinement. In any case, the FT reports that the US based Humane Society “has taken up the cudgels for Iranian dogs” and is demanding Shaggy Justice (dog amnesty) in the most respectful culturally sensitive manner:

No, I am not being facetious. Following reports of the increasing number of dog arrests in Tehran and in dog prisons. After all, not everybody can be expected to be treated with Haleh Esfandiari was during her days of solitary confinement. In any case, the FT reports that the US based Humane Society “has taken up the cudgels for Iranian dogs” and is demanding (dog amnesty) in the most 

“We regret reports that police authorities in Iran are taking steps to suppress petkeeping, and to confiscate dogs from individual citizens. Islam is one of the strongest religious traditions when it comes to its prohibitions on cruelty to animals, and millions of Muslims throughout the world understand their religious duty to take responsibility for the well-being of all creatures,” wrote Dr. Bernard Unti, HSI senior policy advisor and a historian of the human-animal bond, in a letter to Mohammad Khazaee, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations. Click here to read the letter (which includes the appropriate Suras).The presence of petkeeping spans a wide range of cultures across both space and time. In a trend that parallels those in a number of other non-western nations, petkeeping is on the rise in Iran, especially among young people. In China, where authorities have carried out a series of mass roundups of dogs in recent years, resistance from an emerging class of petkeepers has been steady and determined.

In the West as in the East, Unti says, there is confusion about the teachings of Islam concerning dogs. “Whatever the prohibition on the keeping of animals in one’s house within Islam, that shouldn’t preclude the practice of keeping them in separate quarters, and providing them with the basic regard and care that the Quran requires,” said Unti.

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