Animal lovers outraged by proposal to ban pets
TEHRAN: “No, my cat is not dangerous,” says Iranian animal lover Mostafa, outraged by a proposal from ultra-conservative lawmakers to ban pets.
The 25-year-old, who runs a pet supplies shop on busy Eskandari Street in downtown Tehran, is stunned.
“Crocodiles can be called dangerous, but how can rabbits, dogs and cats be dangerous?” he asked incredulously about the bill introduced a month ago.
The proposed law pits growing numbers of people with pets against those who consider the practice decadent and hold that under Islamic law dogs, like pigs, are unclean.
According to media reports, 75 MPS, or one quarter of parliamentarians, recently signed a text entitled Support for the rights of the population in relation to harmful and dangerous animals.
In their introduction, the authors condemn the practice of humans living under one roof with domesticated animals as a “destructive social problem”. The phenomenon, they explain, could “gradually change the Iranian and Islamic way of life” by “replacing human and family relationships with feelings and emotional relationships towards animals”.
The proposed law would prohibit “importing, raising, assisting in the breeding of, breeding, buying or selling, transporting, driving or walking, and keeping in the home wild, exotic, harmful and dangerous animals”.
It lists the animals to be banned as “crocodiles, turtles, snakes, lizards, cats, mice, rabbits, dogs and other unclean animals as well as monkeys”.
Offenders would risk a fine equivalent to 10 to 30 times the “minimum monthly working wage” of about $98 or 87 euros and the “confiscation” of the animal.
In addition, vehicles used to transport the animal would be confiscated for three months.
In the face of the public outcry, few parliamentarians are willing to strongly defend the bill.
“I agree with the project in general, but I certainly disagree with some of its clauses,” said the head of parliament’s judicial commission, Moussa Ghazanfarabadi, who signed the text.
“It is just a bill, but whether it succeeds is another matter,” he told AFP.