The Khomeinist Regime Institutionalized Culture of Animal Cruelty: Targeting Pets, Pet Owners, and Animal Welfare in Iran
Content note: this piece describes cruelty to animals and may be painful to read.
Iranian motorbike racer cares for 150 crippled, stray dogs. Maryam Talaie says animal abuse, maltreatment cases on rise in country
For decades, the Islamic Republic has tried to purge ordinary, human joys from daily life and replace them with surveillance, fear, and obedience. In this project, even companionship with animals is framed as a moral threat. What begins with clerical rulings that treat dogs as najis (ritually impure) becomes police orders, prosecutors’ decrees, and lethal impunity. The result is a system of institutionalized cruelty that kills animals, terrorizes owners and rescuers, and criminalizes kindness. The obsession with erasing pets from public life is purely Islamic in the sense that it is justified by contemporary clerical interpretations — not by Iranian tradition — while pre-Islamic Iran revered animals, especially dogs. [18][19][20][21]
A Civilizational Contrast: Iran’s Pre-Islamic Legacy of Animal Companionship
Dogs in Zoroastrian tradition. Zoroastrian texts place dogs within a moral cosmos of protection and purity. The sagdid rite (“the dog’s glance”) is performed at death; the dog’s gaze is held to repel corruption (nasu) and safeguard the household and the deceased. [18][19] The Vendidad (a legal book of the Avesta) enumerates types of dogs and prescribes severe penalties for harming them, underscoring their protected status in law and ritual. [20][22]
Archaeology and memory. Excavations at ancient Iranian sites further reveal close human–canine bonds. At Shahr-e Sukhteh (the Burnt City) in Sistan, a UNESCO dossier records “three dog skeletons in burial no. 1003,” direct evidence of formal dog burials in a Bronze Age cemetery. [21] At Tepe Hissar (northeastern Iran), the long-studied cemetery corpus and finds of canid remains and figurines illustrate the place of animals in life and death. [8][26] Far from impurity, the dog in Iranian antiquity was a companion, guardian, and participant in sacred rites. [18][19][20][22]
Ideology Behind the Crackdown
From the early 2010s, hardliners in the Islamic Republic cast pet ownership—especially dogs—as a “Western cultural invasion” and a threat to public order. In November 2014, 32 MPs proposed a bill to criminalize keeping or walking dogs, with penalties of up to 74 lashes and heavy fines — explicitly justified by the idea that dogs are “unclean” and that pet-keeping imports an alien lifestyle. [1][2] The same logic resurfaces repeatedly in official rhetoric about najis, “public health,” and “social order.” [6][7]
From Bills to Bans: Turning Ideology into Daily Prohibition
2016 protest in Tehran, against the cruel animal prohibition and abuse laws
Tehran, 2019 – Police order. In January 2019, Tehran’s police chief Hossein Rahimi announced a ban on walking dogs in public and even carrying them in vehicles, citing fear and anxiety among the public and claiming judicial backing. [3][4]
Nationwide bill, 2021 – “Dangerous & Harmful Animals.” In November–December 2021, lawmakers advanced the “Protection of Public Rights Against Dangerous and Harmful Animals” bill to bar owning, breeding, transporting, or walking common pets — including dogs and cats — and to authorize confiscations and large fines. [5][23][24][25]
Prosecutors’ decrees, 2025 – Expansion across cities. In June 2025, prosecutors and police in at least 18–20+ cities announced local bans on walking dogs in public and transporting them in vehicles, threatening legal action and impoundments. Reports documented bans in cities such as Isfahan, Kerman, Hamedan, Ilam and others. [6][7][10][11][12][13][27]
This is governance by fiat: in the absence of a uniform national statute, prosecutors and police weaponize elastic concepts—order, health, tranquility—to criminalize normal life. [6][11]
Enforcement on the Street: Arrests, Seizures, Intimidation
Enforcement varies by city but follows the same template: police stop owners in parks and streets, confiscate pets or impound vehicles carrying dogs, and threaten prosecution. Iran-based reporting in June 2025 details police directives to systematically impound cars and close unauthorized vet clinics — a machinery designed to make ordinary pet-keeping practically impossible. [9][10][11]
The Killings: When Municipal Policy Becomes Lethal
The regime’s contempt for companion animals has repeatedly spilled into municipally authorized culls of strays. In 2015, a horrific video from Shiraz showed workers killing dogs with injections that appeared caustic — sparking protests in Tehran and Shiraz and national outrage. [14][15][16][30] The pattern reappeared in 2019, when new videos of gruesome culls triggered demonstrations in Tehran. [17][31] Activists pleaded for humane alternatives — sheltering and vaccination — instead of state-funded killing. [14][15]
Case Study: The Woman Who Lived With Her Cats—and Died With Them
Sholah Raofi who lovingly ran her cat sanctuary, burned in the fire along with her cats
On August 30, 2015, a catastrophic fire destroyed the Safa Dasht sanctuary near Eshtehard (outside Tehran). Its owner, Sholeh Raufi (also reported as Sholeh Raofi), who lived on site among sick and disabled animals, died in the blaze along with ~200 cats. Officials initially cited faulty electrical wiring; supporters pointed to prior threats from locals hostile to keeping “unclean” animals and demanded a deeper probe. [18][19] The same week, Haleh Boroumand, a dog-shelter operator near Varamin, was attacked with a machete after repeated harassment and ultimatums to shut down. [20] Whether or not state agents were directly involved, the climate of impunity — created by clerical vilification and police bans — empowers vigilantism against rescuers.
Defiance: Sayed Mahdi Tabatabaei and the Cleric Who Rescues Dogs
In sharp contrast to the prevailing regime trends, Sayed Mahdi Tabatabaei, a Shiite cleric, has become an unlikely figure of resistance by caring for stray dogs. [32]
He operates a shelter called Bamak Paradise, near Qom, where he takes in street dogs and dogs with disabilities that cannot survive outside, nursing them back to health. [32]
He regularly posts to his over 80,000 Instagram followers stories of abused or neglected dogs, creating emotional resonance and public sympathy. [32]
His actions have drawn backlash: in 2021, a religious court ordered him defrocked (i.e. stripped of his clerical status) after images appeared of him tending dogs while wearing clerical robes. He later suspended wearing clerical dress while working in the shelter to avoid further conflict. [32]
He depends largely on donations from animal lovers inside and outside Iran, though sanctions and economic collapse have made fundraising harder. [32]
Tabatabaei explicitly calls for legal changes: lifting the ban on walking pets in public, establishing laws to protect animal rights, and enacting regulations that prevent cruelty. [32]
Tabatabaei’s work exposes the contradictions: even as laws and prosecutors try to erase pet-ownership from public life, there are clerics, citizens, and coalitions demanding that kindness be legal. He is living proof of how moral courage can work against institutional cruelty.
Social Control by Other Means
The attack on pets is about more than animals; it is a technology of social control:
Visibility: affection for a dog in public becomes a punishable display. [3][6]
Association: owners cannot congregate in parks without risking confrontation. [6][7]
Movement: even transporting a dog is policed; cars can be impounded. [9][10]
Speech & civic life: rescuers and activists face stigmatization and violence. [11][20]
Walking a dog, once a trivial errand, becomes a quiet act of civil resistance: refusing to cede the rhythms of everyday life to state clericalism. [10][11]
When a state declares your dog a threat to “public order,” it is not protecting society; it is shrinking the boundaries of the permissible until only obedience remains. Bills for lashes (2014), prosecutors’ bans (2019-2025), municipal culls, and tolerated violence against rescuers are not glitches; they are policy. [1][3][5][6][14][18][20]
And they stand in direct opposition to Iran’s oldest traditions: a civilization that sanctified a dog’s gaze, buried dogs with care, and legislated penalties for harming them now seizes cars, outlaws walks, and burns sanctuaries in the nation’s conscience. But there are Tabatabaeis: clerics who nurse dogs, risk defrocking, and insist that compassion is not un-Islamic but essential. The cruelty is not Persian—it is Khomeinist. [32]
Sources
The Guardian (Nov. 6, 2014), “Iran: threat of lashes or fine for walking the dog.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/06/iran-dog-owners-40-lashes-pets-islamBusiness Standard / AFP (Nov. 7, 2014), “Iran dog lovers face 74 lashes, fines under new law.”
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/iran-dog-lovers-face-74-lashes-fines-under-new-law-114110700655_1.htmlLos Angeles Times (Jan. 30, 2019), “Walking your dog is banned in Tehran, but that’s not stopping pet owners.”
https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-iran-dog-walkers-20190130-story.htmlThe Independent (Jan. 30, 2019), “Tehran bans dog walking in public places including parks.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tehran-dog-walking-ban-iran-public-islam-muslim-a8752656.htmlRFE/RL (Radio Farda) (Nov. 19, 2021), “No Dogs Allowed? Iran Considers Nationwide Ban On ‘Dangerous, Harmful’ Pets.”
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-ban-dogs-cats-bunnies/31570095.htmlABC News (Australia) (Jun. 9, 2025), “Iran expands dog-walking ban, citing ‘public health, peace and safety’.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-09/iran-expands-dog-walking-ban/105396570The Guardian / AFP (Jun. 8, 2025), “Iran extends ban on dog-walking for ‘public order, safety and health’.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/08/iran-has-extended-ban-on-walking-dogs-in-public-reports-sayIran International (Jun. 8, 2025), “Iran extends dog walking bans to more than 20 cities as crackdown widens.”
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202506085340IranWire (Jun. 4, 2025), “Iranian Prosecutors Ban Dog Walking in Public Spaces.”
https://iranwire.com/en/news/141755-iranian-prosecutors-ban-dog-walking-in-public-spaces/IranWire (feature) (Jun. 9, 2025), “Iran’s War on Dogs: The Battle Over Daily Life.”
https://iranwire.com/en/features/141891-irans-war-on-dogs-the-battle-over-daily-life/RFE/RL (Jun. 11, 2025), “Iran Widens Dog Walking Ban, Targeting Pet Owners.”
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-dog-walking-ban-pet-ownership/33439982.htmlThe Week (UK) (Jun. 10, 2025), “Why Iranian cities are banning dog walking.”
https://theweek.com/culture-life/why-iranian-cities-are-banning-dog-walkingAl-Monitor (Jun. 9, 2025), “Despite outrage, Iran expands dog-walking ban across multiple provinces.”
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/06/despite-outrage-iran-expands-dog-walking-ban-across-multiple-provincesThe Guardian (Apr. 23, 2015), “Iranian video showing stray dogs’ killings sparks protests in major cities.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/apr/23/iranian-video-showing-stray-dogs-killings-sparks-protests-in-major-citiesWashington Post (Apr. 21, 2015), “A gruesome video of dogs being slaughtered sparks protests in Iran.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/21/a-gruesome-video-of-dogs-being-slaughtered-sparks-protests-in-iran/Arab News (Apr. 20, 2015), “Iranians enraged over video of dog mass killing.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/735411/ampRFE/RL (Aug. 20, 2019), “Dog Killings Video Sparks Backlash In Iran.”
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-dog-killings-protests/30119479.htmlEncyclopaedia Iranica – SAGDID (2016), on the Zoroastrian dog-glance rite.
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sagdid-crossref/Encyclopaedia Iranica – CLEANSING i. In Zoroastrianism (2016), on nasu and sagdid.
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cleansing-i/Encyclopaedia Iranica – DOG (updated), on the status of dogs and protections in Zoroastrian and later Persian tradition.
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dog/UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2013, PDF), Shahr-i Sokhta nomination file noting “three dog skeletons in burial no. 1003.”
https://whc.unesco.org/document/152722World History Encyclopedia (Dec. 5, 2019), “Dogs in Ancient Persia,” on Vendidad penalties for harming dogs.
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1482/dogs-in-ancient-persia/Iran International (Nov. 21, 2021), “New Bill Aims To Ban Dogs As Pets In Homes And Streets.”
https://www.iranintl.com/en/20211121244024Middle East Eye (Dec. 1, 2021), “Widespread anger at law to criminalise keeping pets.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-pet-keep-criminalised-law-widespread-angerTaipei Times / AFP (Dec. 13, 2021), “Iranian animal lovers decry plan to ban pets.”
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2021/12/13/2003769524Penn Museum – The Museum Journal (Tepe Hissar, Hissar III; animal finds incl. dog).
https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/9435/Iran International (alt link, beta mirror) (Jun. 8, 2025), prosecutors in Khalkhal warning of legal action and impounding vehicles.
https://beta.iranintl.com/en/202506085340IranWire (Jun. 6, 2025) – social posts/documentation of intensified bans & vehicle impound orders.
https://www.facebook.com/iranwireenglish/posts/iran-has-intensified-its-ban-on-dog-walking-in-public-spaces-and-expanded-restri/1274921874643256/Law Society of Ireland Gazette (Jan. 2019), summary citing BBC on Tehran’s ban and vehicle prohibition.
https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2019/01-january/dogs-banned-from-tehran-parksIranWire (Apr. 20, 2015), “Stop Killing Dogs” — photo report on protests in Shiraz and Mashhad after the video.
https://iranwire.com/en/images-of-iran/63641/RFE/RL (Feb. 22, 2016), “Dog-Beating Video Sparks Protests In Tehran,” with recap of the 2015 lethal injections.
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-dog-beating-video-protests/27567592.htmlVOA News (June 4, 2023), “Defying Taboos, Shiite Cleric in Iran Takes in Street Dogs and Nurses Them Back to Health.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/defying-taboos-shiite-cleric-in-iran-takes-in-street-dogs-and-nurses-them-back-to-health/7120506.html