# Iranian lawmakers want to ban dogs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000 "2011-04-19T21:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/41 "2011-04-20T12:54:03Z")
On the internet, no one knows you are Iranian. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/42 "2011-04-20T13:19:07Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > That’s a very ugly thing to say. Life’s a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/43 "2011-04-20T13:30:18Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > And **anothah** winner! (hands **Really Not All That Bright** a kewpie doll) At last! _maniacal laugh_ ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/44 "2011-04-20T13:43:37Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Well I heard they already hid their cats under the burkhas. “…looked like two kittens fighting under a burka.” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/45 "2011-04-20T13:47:03Z")
Dogs just bark loudly & bay at the moon. Why would any Iranian Lawmaker feel threatened? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/46 "2011-04-20T13:55:25Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Well I heard they already hid their cats under the burkhas. That would explain a **lot** of things about the 1979 Revolution and its aftermath. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/47 "2011-04-20T13:57:09Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Nothing new for such authoritarian regimes. > About 75 years ago, Nazi Germany passed laws forbidding Jews from owning dogs, cats, or any pets. And they could not even give their pets away to friends or neighbors, or send them outside the Reich – all Jewish-owned pets had to be turned over to the authorities for disposal. Jews cause all plagues, dumbass! Take away the infection-vectors they use and you’ve drawn their fangs! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/48 "2011-04-20T13:59:05Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Awesome ;). > > But oddly enough ( or not ), Muslim Turkey has their own [national breed of dog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangal_Dog). One I wouldn’t try fucking if my life depended on it ( and if I tried, it probably would - they’re big and not exactly the sweetest critters on the planet ). But they sure are **beautiful!** 🙂 . . . Say, is the one pictured single? ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/49 "2011-04-20T14:22:34Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I heard that Johnny and the Mothers are playin’ _Stompin’ At the Savoy_ in Vermont tonight. Holy shit balls… that was funny. Thank you sir. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/50 "2011-04-20T14:22:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Life’s a bitch. Thanks to attitudes like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/51 "2011-04-20T14:24:04Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Dogs just bark loudly & bay at the moon. Why would any Iranian Lawmaker feel threatened? In the Middle East, generally the only dogs around are feral dogs which can be quite scary and dangerous. I remember one story from a friend of mine in Turkey who’d wandered off from his parents and wound up being spotted by a pack of wild dogs and he said he’d never been so scared in his life when the dogs turned around and glared at him. When my parents first came to the US(my father is Iranian, my mother is American), one of the issues they had was dogs. My mother loved them, but my father(who was very much not religious) was really unnerved to be around them and it took him a while to warm up to them. I can certainly see why many view this law as being “backward and retarded” but to Iranians this wouldn’t be any sillier than a state representative in Montana introducing a bill prohibiting having wolves as pets because most Iranians see dogs as being comparable to wolves and the dogs in Iran are about as dangerous as wolves. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/52 "2011-04-20T14:33:26Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > In the Middle East, generally the only dogs around are feral dogs which can be quite scary and dangerous. > > I remember one story from a friend of mine in Turkey who’d wandered off from his parents and wound up being spotted by a pack of wild dogs and he said he’d never been so scared in his life when the dogs turned around and glared at him. > > When my parents first came to the US(my father is Iranian, my mother is American), one of the issues they had was dogs. My mother loved them, but my father(who was very much not religious) was really unnerved to be around them and it took him a while to warm up to them. > > I can certainly see why many view this law as being “backward and retarded” but to Iranians this wouldn’t be any sillier than a state representative in Montana introducing a bill prohibiting having wolves as pets because most Iranians see dogs as being comparable to wolves and the dogs in Iran are about as dangerous as wolves. Well that does make sense. It still seems to be from a position of ignorance, but much more understable ignorance. Living in a dog society when I see a strange dog I know how to handle it. I know dog body language. I know if it’s friendly, or not, or how to handle it if isn’t. These are learned skills, that someone strange to dogs wouldn’t know. They’d just know about the teeth. What I don’t know is how to milk a cow. In a cow milking situation it’d be very easy to get kicked in the face so I might be a bit more nervous around a cow than someone from a farm would be, and in fact seem quite silly to them. Ignorance fought, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/53 "2011-04-20T21:13:52Z")
Every time I see this thread pop up I see it as saying ‘Iranian lawmakers want to bang dogs’. 😛 It always makes me chuckle a bit over the imagery that invokes. -XT ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/54 "2011-04-21T02:39:38Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Every time I see this thread pop up I see it as saying ‘Iranian lawmakers want to bang dogs’. 😛 It always makes me chuckle a bit over the imagery that invokes. > > -XT They like some sexy bitches. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/55 "2011-04-21T06:10:57Z")
I live in a largely Muslim/Arabic area. The fears of dogs is real and unreasoned. I walk my beagles in the park and when an Arabic kid wants to pet them, a parent runs up and says no he was bit by a dog before and shouldn’t go near them. It has happened like that several times. The kid always looks disappointed because he wanted to pet the dogs. They would be in danger of serious licking. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/56 "2011-04-21T23:07:41Z")
I could hide my burning dog in Miss Turkey’s kitty while under a burqa. Call me a freak if you must. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/57 "2011-04-22T22:16:22Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > In the Middle East, generally the only dogs around are feral dogs which can be quite scary and dangerous. Then this legislation aimed at pet dogs seems pointless. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/58 "2011-04-23T00:31:45Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > In the Middle East, generally the only dogs around are feral dogs which can be quite scary and dangerous. > > I remember one story from a friend of mine in Turkey who’d wandered off from his parents and wound up being spotted by a pack of wild dogs and he said he’d never been so scared in his life when the dogs turned around and glared at him. > > When my parents first came to the US(my father is Iranian, my mother is American), one of the issues they had was dogs. My mother loved them, but my father(who was very much not religious) was really unnerved to be around them and it took him a while to warm up to them. > > I can certainly see why many view this law as being “backward and retarded” but to Iranians this wouldn’t be any sillier than a state representative in Montana introducing a bill prohibiting having wolves as pets because most Iranians see dogs as being comparable to wolves and the dogs in Iran are about as dangerous as wolves. Some Bangladeshi people I know have said that the same applies there, hence most Bangladeshis (first-generation, at least) in my area of London fearing dogs even when they’re on leads. It’s hard to shake off that kind of ingrained fear. I don’t think it’s really a muslim thing, exactly, given how many Muslim countries do actually have dog ownership as a norm; Islam isn’t homogenous. Btw, that Turkish dog weighs more than me! Woah! _I_’d be a bit wary of that one! ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/59 "2011-04-23T02:24:33Z")
When an American thinks of a dog, they think of frisbee in the park. When a Middle Easterner thinks of a dog, they think of a pest that scavenges corpses. It’s hardly the same thing. You also need to understand that there’s no such thing as spaying/neutering in these countries. Hell, they don’t even use leashes. You let a few people have dogs and before you know it, the whole neighborhood is overrun with, not man’s best friends, but mangy, disease-ridden pests. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000/60 "2011-04-23T03:12:14Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > We also have weird bans on alcohol on Sundays. :dubious: > > I agree: one act of perceived stupidity does not negate another act. But if you want to do comparisons, I mean, didn’t Singapore have a ban on gum for the longest time? And North Koreans don’t have proper INTERNET access! (Not moderating) The cultural relativism that always pops up in these conversations amazes me. So what if Singapore had a ban on chewing gum, or if there’s one day a week when you can’t buy alcohol. Those things are nearly inconsequential, compared to banning dogs or similar pets (mainly cats, presumably, although I imagine there are other candidates). If the ban goes through, would kennels and vets be restricted or prohibited? What about pet supply stores and food manufacturers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iranian-lawmakers-want-to-ban-dogs/579000.md?page=4)