The head of a property agency in Iran was recently arrested for helping a couple with no human heirs transfer the property rights to their apartment to their pet dog.

The unnamed Iranian businessman ended up in jail and had his real estate firm shut down earlier this month after a video showing him officiating an unusual property transfer went viral on social media. In the short clip, the man can be seen preparing paperwork which is then signed by a human couple, and then by their pet dog, Chester. Well, technically, the owners just took the pooch’s paw, put some ink on it, and then put it on the contract, but we guess that’s what counts as a canine signature. The agent can be heard describing the property, and once the deal is done, Chester’s owners can be seen hugging and congratulating the dog. Iranian authorities didn’t share their happiness, though…

Photo: Victor Grabarczyk/Unsplash

Footage of the property rights transfer went viral in Iran over the weekend, and on Sunday, the owner of the real-estate agency that officiated the property right transfer was arrested for “normalizing the violation of the society’s moral values” and authorizing the deal “with no legal basis”.

“The police arrested the head of the real estate agency and shuttered the firm on Saturday,” deputy prosecutor general Reza Tabar said.

Apparently, Iran’s conservative clerics frown upon owning dogs, because the animals are seen as unclean, so this stunt was seen as a serious offense. The Tehran city council has also banned the animals from public spaces, describing them as a “major problem”. There was even a time when Iranian authorities mulled confiscating people’s dogs.

“Iranian MPs tried to promote a law to confiscate all dogs and give them to zoos or leave them in deserts,” Dr Payam Moheb told The National.