Banning of dogs

The latest unusual news is the banning of dogs in Iran. The ban is based on the belief that they are “najes” which means impure. This is not just a reflection on the purity of the breeding but of all dogs except perhaps guard dogs and sheep dogs. These two categories of dogs are useful and so they are tolerated but does that mean they are less impure? It’s hard to see the logic in this decision

There is sense in managing the population of dogs, and cats, by sterilisation so that they do not run wild everywhere but that is a problem everywhere in the world. Wild animals do cause problems to native animals and to farm animals but that is not the basis of this decision.

Banning dogs presents many difficulties, do we kill all the dogs we find, do we ban people from keeping pets, do people claim that all of their dogs are guard dogs and how can a humane solution be found?” The simpler solution would be to avoid dogs when you see them if you think they are offensive, just the same as with a number of people you may meet every day.

Let the dogs run free.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne.