Islamic leaders in Australia are working to break down misconceptions about dogs after a spate of complaints that Muslim cab drivers are banning guide dogs.
Guide Dogs Queensland (GDQ) threw open its doors to a group of clerics from the Imam Council of Queensland (ICQ) in Brisbane, in an Australian and possibly world first to promote the value of dogs to vision-impaired Muslims.
A source at Dover prison said: “It seems ridiculous that staff have to go out of their way to treat these prisoners differently.
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley in Yorkshire, said: “Another way for people not to have their cells searched for drugs is not to commit crime in the first place. If you commit a crime and go to prison, there are certain things which you expect to happen.”
A British Muslim body has ruled that a blind student can take a guide dog with him to his local mosque, a judgment Muslim and blind advocacy groups are hailing as a breakthrough.
Previously, all dogs were banned from mosques because the Islamic faith historically sees them as being for guarding and hunting only. However, the position was softened because guide dogs could be classed in the “working dogs” category.