Iran bans walking dogs, but …

Wherever TEHRAN, IRAN —

Asal Bahrierad goes, her Shih Tzu terrier, Teddy, follows. The 31-year-old Iranian even slept in her car with Teddy for three nights, she said, when visiting with her mother, who does not like dogs.

Impressed by her daughter’s determination to be with Teddy, Bahrierad’s mother finally relented and allowed her back in the house, with her beloved dog.

“Now both my mom and I can’t imagine living without Teddy,” Bahrierad said. “No one, not even the police can take him away from me.”

That last statement is a matter of debate these days in Tehran.

This week Teddy and all other dogs in Iran were front and center in Iran’s nearly 40-year long battle against Western influences when Tehran’s police chief, Brig. Gen. Hossein Rahimi, announced that the judiciary had banned walking dogs in public.

For good measure, the court also banned having dogs in cars.

In Islam, dogs are consid- ered “najes,” or impure. Guard dogs are tolerated, but keep- ing them as pets is a step too far. The problem is that many Iranians think otherwise.

Dogs are everywhere in Tehran: German shepherds on leashes in alleyways; Siberian huskies frolicking in the winter snow; and Chihuahuas panting through the open windows of cars, not to speak of the many former street dogs adopted by animal lovers.

Every so often Iranian offi- cials take note of the rising popularity and call for measures to prevent Iranians from normalizing the notion that a dog is man’s best friend.

Dogs “create fear and anxiety” when they are seen in pub- lic, Rahimi said in an appear- ance at the Young Journalist Club, part of Iranian state television. “The police will take measures against the owners.”

He did not say exactly what measures.

His comments were echoed in the semiofficial Fars news agency, where people complained that dogs take away all the fun in public parks.

“Dog owners ignore the commands of Islam, and influ- enced by Western satellite channels bring their pets to the park causing distress for the other visitors,” one user wrote.

“We call upon the authorities to firmly deal with these dogs,” someone else wrote.

Walking dogs in public is by no means the only activity off-limits to Iranians, as their clerical leaders seek to help the citizenry avoid sin.

To achieve this goal, they are prohibited, among other things, from dancing and drinking alcohol and, for women, appearing in pub- lic without the compulsory Islamic head scarf.

In reality, however, the give and take between Iranians and their Islamic guardians is a constant work in progress.

So there is dancing, some people drink and headscarves tend to fall off with surprising frequency.

But punishments can be harsh, and every so often perpetrators are fined, and at times even flogged.

Nevertheless, flouting the official rules is so routine that few people consider it an act of rebellion.

Time was in Iran that religious hard-liners would inform on violators. These days, the enforcement of unpopular laws is left almost entirely to the police, with neighbors, friends and others determined to look the other way.

Like many previous edicts of this sort, the ban on dog walking is not being taken very seriously, Bahrierad said.

“Teddy and I walk in a park in the Shahram neighborhood everyday, and the police are actually very friendly to us,” she said.

The number of dogs — and cats, though they are more acceptable under Islam — is growing rapidly, if a recent explosion in pet clinics in Tehran is any measure.

Two decades ago the only place to take a pet for treatment was Tehran University, which ran a clinic staffed by veterinarians in training. Now, there are dozens of pet clinics.

Still, dog owners need to learn some things, said Damoon Ansari, a veterinar- ian at the Paytakht Pet Clinic in Tehran’s Shahrak-e Gharb neighborhood.

“We need to educate dogowners,” he said. “They should have rights, but also responsibilities.”