Iran judge faces court for pigeon slaughter

TEHRAN, Iran, January 24, 2000 (Reuters) - An Iranian judge who ordered the slaughter of 170 pigeons has been summoned for disciplinary action, Entekhab newspaper reported yesterday.

The judge, who has not been named, ordered the slaughter after a dispute between two men accused of illegally raising and flying pigeons in the vicinity of Mehrabad airport in Tehran.

The judge's order and the subsequent killing of the birds, was the target of public criticism from animal rights groups and some newspapers.

Rearing birds in the vicinity of airports is banned in Iran and usually punished by fines or even jail sentences.

Iran's judiciary chief has personally requested the disciplinary court to review the case, the newspaper said.

Court orders 370 pigeons killed to punish brawling breeders

TEHRAN, Iran, January 18, 2000 (AFP) - Pigeons have fallen on hard times in Iran, after a Tehran court settled a violent dispute between two pigeon breeders by ordering their 370 birds slaughtered, the Entekhab newspaper reported Tuesday.

The bloody punishment was meted out following a fight over a pigeon between two breeders in the northern Tehran district of Mollah-Sadra. The 55- and 57-year-old men sustained stick and knife blows, the newspaper reported, before police intervened.

After listening to the two men's explanations, the judge noted Iran laws prohibit pigeon flights within 30 kilometres (20 miles) of airports.

But the judge made allowances for the breeders' "advanced age," and decided to have the throats of their 370 pigeons cut as a punishment. The sentence was executed immediately, the paper said.