Stray dog attacks family inside home in Iraq's Karbala
Shafaq News– Karbala
On Wednesday, a rabid stray dog attacked people inside their house in Al-Hindiya district of Karbala province, southern Iraq, injuring the homeowner.
In a statement by the Karbala Civil Defense Directorate, rescue teams evacuated the family member after they were trapped in one room out of fear. They also removed the dog from the residential area.
Iraq has more than one million stray dogs, according to official estimates, and authorities have recorded widespread dog-bite incidents across several provinces, including Diyala, Baghdad, Al-Anbar, Dhi Qar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Maysan, and parts of the Kurdistan Region. In Diyala alone, health officials recorded more than 1,000 dog-bite cases in the first five months of 2025.
Read more: Deadly dog attacks: Who protects Iraq’s neighborhoods?
Meanwhile, animal rights advocates have criticized policies permitting the killing of stray dogs, warning that culling could disrupt ecological balance and violate Kurdistan Region Law No. 14 of 2022, which bans the killing of stray animals and mandates humane care.
