Iran is clamping down on pet ownership

Authorities have recently been clamping down on pet ownership in Iran, with a new wave of arrests of pet owners and seizures of their animals in Iranian capital city, Tehran.

Under a new proposed legislation, to own a pet, residents in Iran must obtain a permit from a special committee. Pet owners could soon be punished and face fines or penalties if parliament passes the new bill to restrict the ownership of domestic animals across the country, the BBC reported.

There would also reportedly be a minimum fine of around $800 for the import, purchase and sale, transportation and keeping of certain animals, including pets such as cats, turtles and rabbits.

Police also reportedly recently announced that walking dogs in the park was a crime, the BBC said, justified as a measure to “protect the safety of the public.”

Owning dogs, for example, has always been common in rural parts of the country according to the BBC, even though dogs are considered impure in Islamic tradition. But in the eyes of the current regime dogs also reportedly became a symbol of the “Westernization” that it seeks to curb.

Authorities have also reportedly banned imports of pet food for more than three years as part of a push to preserve the country's foreign currency reserves. But that caused a spike in local prices, especially after the establishment of an underground market, the BBC said.