(IQ) Stray dogs and animal welfare in Iraq

[Guest guest]

Dear Dr Krishna and AAPN colleagues,

Kindly

allow me to make a few observations.

 

1) The statement " With fewer bombs going off and hardly any bodies being

dumped any more,

the dogs are perhaps the biggest problem on the filthy and rubble-strewn

streets of Baghdad " is not only grossly inaccurate, it is dangerously

complacent. I have been following the casualties of the Iraq war since day

1. If you take a look at the website of the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count(

http://icasualties.org/ ), you will see that there are still substantial

casualties happening in Iraq(Incidentally they also uploaded the dog

story.). Violence has come down significantly, but that is a very different

cup of tea as compared to " hardly any bodies being dumped any more. " Only

last week, 32 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad. Where

has this journalist got his facts from to make an assertion, " with hardly

any bodies being dumped any more " ? In a place awash with Improvised

Explosive Devices and sharp shooters indulging in guerilla warfare, is it

any surprise people are killing dogs when they are killing each other?

 

 

2) Islam and dogs. I am aware of the quote you have mentioned. But it is

also true that Islam has a dichotomous take on dogs. Take for example the

following quotes :

 

Ibn Maajah (3640) narrated from 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allah be pleased

with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

" The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image. "

Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.

 

 

One of the hadiths ( a saying or deed of

Mohammed<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith>)

in the Sunnah of Bukhari is very clear regarding the attitude of the prophet

Mohammed towards dogs.

 

*Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 54, Number

540:<http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/054.sbt.html>

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: Allah's Apostle ordered that the dogs should

be killed.*

 

This is very clear indeed, and is furthermore supported by other passages

emphasizing the degraded nature of dogs.

 

*Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 34, Number

439:<http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/034.sbt.html>

Narrated Abu Mas'ud Al-Ansari: Allah's Apostle forbade taking the price of a

dog, money earned by prostitution and the earnings of a soothsayer.*

 

Quite contradictory as compared to the compassionate quotes cited by you.

 

Perhaps it might interest you that Dr N V K Ashraf of the Wildlife Trust

of India was one of the very few people who visited Iraq in the aftermath of

the war. I have had several long sessions with Ashraf regarding the

situation in Iraq and animal welfare and have requested him to write an

article on his first hand experiences in Baghdad as a member of an IFAW team

that went there to aid the animals of Baghdad Zoo. Ashraf does mention that

the situation went from bad to worse even whilst he was there. If he writes

an article, I will post it on AAPN.

 

As much as I like animals, I do not envisage any meaningful animal welfare

in a human conflict zone and as long as the coalition troops remain in Iraq,

people will continue to kill dogs and violence will continue. Killing dogs

may only be an attribute of redirected aggression for trigger happy human

beings. Unfortunate, but that is the way it is.

 

Sorry to sound so cynical, but these are my feelings since I do not think

animal welfare can take place in a country that has compromised human

welfare.

 

Best regards,