Iran set to criminalize dog ownership

Thirty-nine of Iran’s 290 parliamentarians have tabled a motion that criminalizes owning dogs in private apartments or exercising them in public places.

According to the Daily Mail, the bill warns that in addition to posing health hazards, the growing popularity of dog ownership “poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar Western culture”.

If the legislation is passed, violators will be fined between 60 and 305 pounds and “their animal will be confiscated”.

The bill does not specify what fate awaits the seized “dangerous, unhealthy or unclean animals” dogs.

A police circular already forbids dogs from cars and from being walked in public places, but the law is barely enforced.