A provincial representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader has recently sparked controversy after associating having dogs as pets with "a colonial scheme."
A young female musician playing #cello inside an #animal_shelter. #Tehran, #Iran. Photo from Elham Siami’s #instagram.#everydayTehran#everydayIran #everydayMiddleEast #everydayAsia #everydayEverywhere#MiddleEastImages #StayHome pic.twitter.com/c2M9SaTcyh
— Everyday Iran (@everydayiran) December 29, 2020
Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi Hosseini Hamedani, the representative of Ali Khamenei in Alborz, has warned against adopting dogs as pets, saying that such practices are a product of western culture and that Iranians should be aware of it.
Hamedani who is a leading religious figure in Northern Iran has linked having pets with a "planned scheme by colonial powers" in reference to western countries where having animals as pets is a popular practice.
Homa Rashid, a lawyer and volunteer at the Vafa Animal Shelter, rests with a dog, in the city of Hashtgerd 43 miles (73 kilometers) west of the capital Tehran, #Iran. More than 500 dogs find care and affection at the Vafa Animal Shelter. pic.twitter.com/1EwIRm4GJD
— Sports Plus (@PrepSportsPlus) January 18, 2021
Maryam Talaee, an animal lover, plays with her pets at home in Tehran, Iran and a general view of Vafa animal Shelter in the city of Hashtgerd, west of Tehran, Iran pic.twitter.com/imxfvn0y8V
— Russell Boyce (@Cropperboyce) December 23, 2019
Hamedani's statements were part of a Friday sermon he delivered last week, during which he criticized women's lifestyle in Iran, saying that they are "adopting animals instead of having and raising kids."
Two dogs gather on a visitors car at the Vafa Animal Shelter in the city of Hashtgerd 43 miles (73 kilometers) west of the capital Tehran, #Iran. pic.twitter.com/Au0N7jZfv7
— Sports Plus (@PrepSportsPlus) January 18, 2021
In November 2019, Iran’s Consultative Assembly attempted to pass a law to ban dog walking across the country, but it has not affected Iranians' love of dogs over the years.