The Perverse Roots of Muslim Hatred for Dogs

The Stream ^ | 6/23/2025 | Raymond Ibrahim

[Heartlander]

If you’ve paid any attention to global headlines, you might have noticed something deeply unsettling: Muslims, as a general trend, often seem to harbor an unusual hostility toward dogs. While the rest of the world hails dogs as “man’s best friend,” in many Islamic societies, they’re treated as filth, vermin, or worse — literal devils.

I’ve written about this before (see links below), but in case you’re new to the topic, consider just a few recent developments from the Islamic world:

Dog Deaths, Abuse, and Massacres: A Global Trend

• May 2025, UK: A Muslim man running a dog rescue shelter called Save a Paw was arrested after the carcasses of 37 dogs were discovered on his property. His was a cruel scam: accepting dogs from desperate owners who could no longer care for them, charging a fee to rehome them, then simply letting them die.
• January 2025, Morocco: In preparation for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, Morocco launched a horrific dog extermination campaign. Reports estimated some three million dogs would be culled from the streets. Slaughter squads were seen clubbing and shooting strays across urban areas.
• August 2024, Turkey: Journalist Uzay Bulut warned that a new government law legalizing the removal of stray dogs had effectively turned municipalities into killing machines. Dogs were poisoned, shot, even beheaded by private citizens and city workers alike. Some were even buried alive.
• November 2022, Hebron (Palestinian Territories): The city’s mayor publicly offered 20 shekels for every dog killed. Videos circulated of mobs chasing, beating, and killing dogs in the streets.
• July 2022, Iran: Authorities raided shelters and killed 1,700 dogs taken in by volunteers. One video showed a woman weeping over the lifeless body of a dog she had once

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TOPICS: History; Pets/Animals; Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: deadpuppies; peta

[servo1969]

Muhammed was a raider. Dogs would alert his victims that they were being attacked. Hence the hatred for dogs embedded in his made up faith.

[Mr Rogers]

Ancient Jews despised dogs too. Think it is just an effect of Muslims - too many - being stuck in 700 AD.

[Macoozie]

You can tell lots about a Society in how they treat Women and Pets.

Guys will do what they have to do to get by.

Women and children, often physically and economically weaker by social design, get exploited and abused.
Pets get exploited and abused.

It isn’t wealth, it’s attitude.
All Societies are not equal.

[spincaster]

Well , dogs hate them also.

[RinaseaofDs]

What can you tell about a society about the way it’s women treat their men and their children (and their pets maybe)?

[Mariner]

“Ancient Jews despised dogs too.”

Citation?

[skepsel]

Dang, I heard Muslims were animal lovers; chickens, sheep, goats....

[cowboyusa]

Dogs in Qchient Israel were wild scavengers.

[riverrunner]

Getting rid of stray dogs is generally good.

They do and can cause a lot of problems.

[exPBRrat]

God is dog backwards.

[libstripper]

The way to get rid of stray dog is to adopt them.

[Ezekiel]

Yipes.

And just to twist the knife: Dihyah’s tribal name, Kalbi, literally means “dog.”

Here's another dot:

Caleb ("dog") was the faithful spy who hailed from the tribe of Judah.

Like with flying, there are some folks for whom civilization was never intended.

A good-hearted person would not kill a dog unless in self-defense, or if necessary to put it out of its misery, or some other necessary evil.

But he would think to add "Death Lab" onto the meme.

[Tom Tetroxide]

The word for ‘dog’ in Hebrew is ‘kelev,’ which can also mean ‘close to the heart.’ The same letters of this word are used for the name, Caleb.

Where do find the info that ancient Jews hated dogs? They are mentioned in the books of Isaiah and Job being used for hunting purposes.

[redangus]

They don’t like dogs, beer or bikinis. Maybe they don’t belong in western societies.

[redangus]

Then why the breeding of the Canaan dog as a herding dog?

[Reily]

Done way way before Islam.

[JSM_Liberty]

https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/pet-adoption-statistics/#euthanized-animal-statistics

Euthanized animal statistics

For a deeper look behind these statistics, consider the full reports from the ASPCA, No Kill Advocacy Center, and Best Friends.org.

. On average, 1 million shelter animals are euthanized every year in the United States.
. Shelters around the country euthanize an estimated 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats each year.
. 45% of all cats who enter shelters are eventually euthanized. For feral cats, that number leaps up to nearly 100%.
. Roughly 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed each year because shelters are too full.

[GingisK]

Camels do too, but aren’t smart enough to bite back during sexual advances.

[Wilderness Conservative]

I love almost all dogs but never met a Muslim I even liked.