ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A campaign offering $2 per captured stray dog in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province has drawn widespread controversy due to disturbing violence and animal rights abuses, especially in light of a recent viral video showing the ruthless treatment of a stray dog.

A video published by PAK Organization, an animal welfare group, on Wednesday depicting two men and a young boy in Sulaimani’s Sarchinar neighborhood brutally pulling a stray dog using a wire attached to the canine’s neck drew tremendous condemnation on social media platforms.

In the video, the dog can be seen bleeding and urinating in fear as the individuals forcefully pull its neck to a vehicle bound for Sulaimani’s stray dog shelter – all for a mere $2, or 3,000 Iraqi dinars.

The woman recording the footage attempts to intervene, questioning the team’s morality, but is shut down and responded to with: “What God? What are you talking about?” as the men continue to pull the dog by its neck.

“This video shows how a soul is treated in Kurdistan in the year 2025, and will forever remain as a dark stain in history for the parties and individuals responsible for this matter,” PAK said, lamenting that the incident is a “small part” of a recurring pattern.

Lavin Ahmed, the director of PAK, told The New Region on Thursday that the individuals committing the act are not employees of Sulaimani’s municipality, but are “supported” by the authorities.

“We vehemently condemn this. People must collect the dogs humanely and be trained to do so instead of using such inhumane methods. The dog’s life, as well as the young boy’s, is at risk as no safety equipment is being used,” she said, calling on the municipality to put an “immediate halt” to the dog collection campaign until proper guidelines are enacted.

A Sulaimani animal rights activist with knowledge on the matter claimed that the vehicle the team is using to collect the stray dogs was provided by the head of the city’s shelter, stressing that they have become “notorious” due to their barbarity while gathering the animals.

The shelter in Sulaimani is infamous for its poor animal rights record. Several videos from the shelter, recorded in September and verified by The New Region, show the animals visibly malnourished. One video shows a mother carrying her dead puppy.

The activist told The New Region that the individuals initially used an auto rickshaw for collecting stray dogs, but were rewarded with a cabover pickup truck by the shelter head due to their efficiency. Conditions at the shelter, she said, are “very, very bad.”

The New Region reached out to the Sulaimani shelter director, but he refused to comment on the matter.

Omar Mohammed, one of the men in question, told The New Region that he collects the dogs “to earn a living for my family and children.”

“I never harm the dogs. The blood that came from the dog’s mouth seen in the video is due to the wire that was put around his neck,” he claimed, adding that alongside his companion, they collect a staggering 50 dogs per day.

But Shadia Ali, head of the Hana animal rights organization, disputed Mohammed’s claims, saying the two individuals routinely “beat the dogs with sticks and iron and suffocate them with wires.”

“These disasters that we see violate all social and emotional aspects. We have repeatedly told the Sulaimani municipality that the staff [in charge of dog collection] must be skilled and trained, such as veterinarians and animal lovers, but unfortunately the Sulaimani municipality accepts everyone,” Ali told The New Region. 

“The most concerning thing is that one of these individuals has brought his child to collect dogs with him, when all citizens warn that these stray dogs pose a danger to the lives of children,” she added, regretting that the child is being raised with violence rather than being taught to respect for living beings.

Hana and “all other” animal rights organizations in the Kurdistan Region are mulling a lawsuit against the individuals for their repeated abuse of stray dogs, according to Ali.

The municipality told The New Region that they are investigating the incident and are aware of reports of abuse.

The incident is the latest in an endemic pattern of violence against stray dogs in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, where the population stigmatizes the animals as “dirty” and considers them a health and security risk.

Shelters in the Kurdistan Region are underdeveloped, unhygienic, and lack the basic necessities for life, such as food and water. The shelters also lack proper shade and are usually constructed on barren fields, making it especially grueling for the strays during the scorching summer months.

In 2022, animal rights activists in Sulaimani protested a provincial campaign to collect stray dogs and place them in shelters, labeling the facilities as “slaughterhouses.” Instead, they suggested that the dogs be neutered and returned to the streets.

In January, the Kurdistan Islamic Scholars Union declared the killing of stray dogs “halal”, or Islamically permissible, a directive that drew condemnation from locals and animal rights activists who urged the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to address the issue in line with international standards for animal rights.

In March, The New Region published footage showing rounded-up strays being mistreated at a dog shelter in Erbil, with dozens of animals transferred from Bardarash being dropped from a truck with no concern for their welfare. Another video clip showed a distressed female dog watching her puppies being burned alive in Sulaimani's Qualaraisi neighborhood, provoking horror after it circulated on social media.

The Kurdistan Region passed its first-ever animal protection law in late 2022, deeming the killing of stray animals forbidden by any means.

But three years later, little has been done to safeguard their lives, with killings, beatings, and other forms of abuse remaining rife.

Over 300,000 stray dogs roam the streets of the Kurdistan Region, according to the Sulaimani-based Kurdistan Green Party.