1. Iran: Dog Ownership to Be Outlawed Under Lawmakers' Plan

By AZADEH MOAVENI Azadeh Moaveni – Wed Apr 20, 12:30 am ET
For much of the past decade, the Iranian government has tolerated what it considers a particularly depraved and un-Islamic vice: the keeping of pet dogs.

During periodic crackdowns, police have confiscated dogs from their owners right off the street; and state media has lectured Iranians on the diseases spread by canines. The cleric Gholamreza Hassani, from the city of Urmia, has been satirized for his sermons railing against "short-legged" and "holdable" dogs. But as with the policing of many other practices (like imbibing alcoholic drinks) that are deemed impure by the mullahs but perfectly fine to many Iranians, the state has eventually relaxed and let dog lovers be. (See the top 10 animal stories of 2010.)

Those days of tacit acceptance may soon be over, however. Lawmakers in Tehran have recently proposed a bill in parliament that would criminalize dog ownership, formally enshrining its punishment within the country's Islamic penal code. The bill warns that that in addition to posing public health hazards, the popularity of dog ownership "also poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the West." The proposed legislation for the first time outlines specific punishments for "the walking and keeping" of "impure and dangerous animals," a definition that could feasibly include cats but for the time being seems targeted at dogs. The law would see the offending animal confiscated, the leveling of a $100-to-$500 fine on the owner, but leaves the fate of confiscated dogs uncertain. "Considering the several thousand dogs [that are kept] in Tehran alone, the problem arises as to what is going to happen to these animals," Hooman Malekpour, a veterinarian in Tehran, said to the BBC's Persian service. If passed, the law would ultimately energize police and volunteer militias to enforce the ban systematically.

In past years, animal-rights activists in Iran have persuasively argued that sporadic campaigns against dog ownership are politically motivated and unlawful, since the prohibition surfaces in neither the country's civil laws nor its Islamic criminal codes. But if Iran's laws were silent for decades on the question of dogs, that is because the animals - in the capacity of pet - were as irrelevant to daily life as dinosaurs. Islam, by custom, considers dogs najes, or unclean, and for the past century cultural mores kept dog ownership down to minuscule numbers. In rural areas, dogs have traditionally aided shepherds and farmers, but as Iranians got urbanized in the past century, their dogs did not come along. In cities, aristocrats kept dogs for hunting and French-speaking dowagers kept lap dogs for company, but the vast majority of traditional Iranians, following the advice of the clergy, were leery of dogs and considered them best avoided. (Read "Can Animal Rights Go Too Far?")

That has changed in the past 15 years with the rise of an urban middle class plugged into and eager to mimic Western culture. Satellite television and Western movies opened up a world where happy children frolicked with dogs in parks and affluent families treated them like adorable children. These days, lap dogs rival designer sunglasses as the upper-middle-class Iranian's accessory of choice. "Global norms and values capture the heart of people all around the world, and Iran is no exception," says Omid Memarian, a prominent Iranian journalist specializing in human rights. "This is very frightening for Iranian officials, who find themselves in a cultural war with the West and see what they're offering as an 'Islamic lifestyle' failing measurably."

The widening acceptability of dog ownership, and its popularity among a specific slice of Iran's population - young, urban, educated and frustrated with the Islamic government - partly explains why dogs are now generating more official hostility. In 2007, two years into the tenure of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, security forces targeted dog owners alongside a crackdown on women's attire and men's "Westernized" hairstyles. In the regime's eyes, owning a dog had become on par with wearing capri pants or sporting a mullet - a rebellious act. (See the 140 best Twitter feeds.)

The government's tolerance for this low-level lifestyle dissidence fizzled after Ahmadinejad's contested electoral victory in 2009, which sparked massive demonstrations and the most serious challenge to Islamic rule since the 1979 revolution. In the aftermath of that upheaval, the state has moved to tighten its control over a wide range of Iranians' private activities, from establishing NGOs to accessing the Internet, to individual lifestyle decisions, according to Hadi Ghaemi, the director for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. "No doubt such attempts are motivated by a desire to squash acts of criticism and protests, even if through symbolic individual decisions that simply don't conform to officially sanctioned lifestyles," Ghaemi says.

The criminalizing of dogs, in this context, helps the government address the legal gray areas concerning lifestyle behavior. When authorities found it difficult to police what it termed Westernized hairstyles worn by young men, it solved the problem last year by releasing a poster of specifically banned styles.

For many young people, these measures are a firm reminder that the government will brook no disobedience, whether it be chanting antigovernment slogans in the streets or sporting excessively long sideburns. Dog owners in Iran, like much of the population, are mostly preoccupied these days with inflation, joblessness and the parlous state of the country's economy. But they will soon need to consider whether keeping their shih tzu or poodle is worth the added worry. Their dogs may face the same fate as the hundreds of street dogs that the government regularly sweeps from the streets of Tehran. "Many in Tehran and other big cities find the killing of street dogs offensive and cruel," says Memarian. "It's like the Iranian people and officials live in two different worlds."

2. Woman mauled to death by pit bulls in New Mexico

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_dog_mauling

– Mon Apr 25, 9:31 pm ET
SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) – A woman has been mauled to death by a pack of four pit bulls in the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, authorities said on Monday.

Margaret Salcedo, 48, was walking alone when the dogs, which had escaped from a fenced yard at a private home, attacked her at an intersection on Sunday afternoon, Truth or Consequences Police Chief Patrick Gallagher said.

A passerby in a car opened his door to intervene, but he stayed in the vehicle when a dog charged him, police said.

"The officer arrived on the scene in less than three minutes, but it must have felt like an eternity to the poor woman being attacked," Gallagher told Reuters.

One of the dogs charged the officer, who shot and injured the animal, police said. All four dogs ran off, and the officer administered first aid to the wounded woman.

Salcedo was bitten on all her extremities and lost a lot of blood, Gallagher said. She was taken to a hospital, where she died within hours, he said.

The dogs were later located, and the animal that had been shot was dead from its injuries.

The other three dogs were taken to an animal shelter, but authorities said they will not make a determination on whether to destroy them until the conclusion of their investigation.

The dogs belonged to a couple named John and Maria Hardiman, who were not present during the attack, police said.

New Mexico State Police officials were conferring with the local District Attorney's Office to determine if criminal charges are warranted.

Truth or Consequences is about 150 miles south of Albuquerque, and the town named after a television game show in 1950 is popular for its hot springs.

(Reporting by Zelie Polon; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jerry Norton)

Michael Vick was jailed for putting these BEAST to use in a manner that suited their breeding. Pitbulls are bred for no other purpose. These are not creatures of nature they are man made Franken-canines; the fact that they are allowed to be bred, sold and kept among unsuspecting citizens is another indication of societal decay, in this here, Jew S. A. I'm on the lookout for a story that tells of a pitbull mauling on a millionaire, an elected official; or one of their kit or kin. It's coming the laws of Karma will not be denied or avoided. Only a society in its death throes would acquiesce to the subjugation of their rights, in their own personal space, to the rights of dogs/pets. (think Egypt's pet mummification period). Americans are appalled by homosexual humans, but have no objection to being kissed (licked on) by an animal that licks its own and every other dog's ass; now that's just GRRRREAT! It's not that I have anything against animals, but there's a long line of evolution that separates their parasites/bacteria from mine, consequently, I politely decline any invitations to the homes of pet lovers and politely refuse their offers of food. I grew up with dogs but they were never allowed in the house much less my bed or at the table. Civilization is understanding that sometimes the rights of the individual should be subjugated for the rights of the society.