Protests Over Abuse and Killing of Stray Dogs in Tabriz; Municipality Says It Will Take Action Against Contractor

In recent days, reports of abuse and mistreatment of stray dogs by contractors of Tabriz Municipality have sparked controversy on social media and led to protest gatherings.

Following the circulation of images showing several dogs being hanged on social media, some animal rights supporters in Tabriz gathered in front of the city municipality holding placards reading “Sterilization Instead of Killing” and “I Oppose Animal Cruelty,” and called for the resignation of Mohammad Reza Ghorbani Tabrizii, the Deputy Mayor of Tabriz.

The official account of Iran’s Animal Rights Campaign also posted on Twitter, sharing some images of stray dogs being hanged, stating: “Videos and reports received show that Tabriz Municipality has covertly and extensively used execution and hanging methods to control the population of stray dogs.”

However, Mohammad Reza Ghorbani Tabrizii, Deputy Mayor of Tabriz, responded to public protests in statements to some Iranian media outlets, saying: “Tabriz Municipality has not carried out any dog killings to date and has only used tranquilizer guns to anesthetize these animals, collected them, and released them outside the city after the dogs regained consciousness.”

On the other hand, Airaj Shahin Bahar, Mayor of Tabriz, who identifies himself as an animal rights supporter, stated: “I have ordered that the contractor responsible for collecting dogs using unconventional methods be dealt with severely and that cooperation with them be terminated.”

This is not the first time animal rights activists and some residents have protested the method of collecting stray dogs by municipal contractors in Iran. Over the past years, opponents of animal cruelty and dog killing in various Iranian cities, including Shiraz and Tehran, have held gatherings and voiced their opposition to the methods of collecting and killing these animals to responsible authorities.

Some experts believe that government policies in dealing with the presence of dogs in public places and even temporary measures such as impounding citizens’ dogs are among the factors that cause such behavior by municipal contractors in various Iranian cities.

Source: Voice of America