Outrage in Lebanon after activist detained for posting dog abuse video

BEIRUT — A Lebanese animal rights activist was released Tuesday following her brief detention after she posted a video documenting animal abuse, in a case that has sparked widespread controversy over the judiciary’s treating animal advocacy as a criminal offense.  

What happened: On Tuesday, Beirut judge Bilal Halawi ordered the detention of animal rights activist Ghina Nahfawi after she refused to take down a video showing a tied dog being dragged behind a vehicle.

In the footage she posted on April 28, Nahfawi said a Muslim cleric had tied the dog to the back of his car and drove around in the town of Azzounieh in the Aley district, southeast of Beirut, before stopping and tossing the dog to the side of the road.  

According to her, the dog was eventually rescued.

لن يُسكت صوت الحيوانات.

تم توقيف الناشطة غنى نحفاوي @ghina.nahfawi بناءً على إشارة من النيابة العامة الاستئنافية في جبل لبنان، بعد رفضها حذف فيديو يُظهر رجلاً وهو يسحل كلباً بسيارته.

بدلاً من محاسبة العنف، يتم إسكات من يوثّقه. pic.twitter.com/jJsvyXBoYz

— AnimalsLebanon (@AnimalsLebanon) May 19, 2026

However, instead of holding the alleged offender accountable for violating Lebanon’s Animals Protection and Welfare Law No. 47/2017, it was Nahfawi who was summoned by the judiciary after the cleric, which she had named as Samir Sharaffedin in her post, filed a complaint against her for libel and defamation.

According to several local reports, Sharaffedin said he did not know there was a dog behind him, claiming someone else had tied it to his car.

Nahfawi said in social media posts on Sunday that she had received a call two days earlier from the Baabda police station informing her of the need to appear before a judge, based on a complaint of defamation, slander and “inciting religious sentiment” filed by Sheikh Samir Sharafeddine.

After appearing before Halawi on Tuesday, she was arrested for refusing to delete the video, sparking a wave of condemnation. Later in the day, the public prosecutor of the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, Judge Sami Sader, ordered Nahfawi’s immediate release.

Nahfawi confirmed that she was arrested and taken to a detention center after she was searched by police. According to her, Judge Sader later took over her case file and agreed to release her on the condition that she disable comments on the posts on Instagram and Facebook, which she did.

Why it matters: Nahfawi’s case has revived a debate in Lebanon over animal cruelty going unpunished. Animal rights activists and organizations have called for the strict implementation of the law against animal abuse and criticized the judiciary for prosecuting those who expose it.

🔴 ترك الناشطة البيئية غنى نحفاوي لقاء سند إقامة بعد رفضها حذف فيديو يوثّق اعتداء شيخ على كلب https://t.co/lY9vEif7vi pic.twitter.com/N4gw5qgxZU

— LebyNews (@lebynews) May 19, 2026

When news of Nahfawi’s detention spread, animal welfare advocates took to social media to call for her immediate release, including Lebanese Wildlife, Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Animals Lebanon. 

Animals Lebanon, one of the country’s most prominent groups dedicated to the protection of animals, condemned Nahfawi's arrest in a statement on X, saying, “Documenting animal abuse is not a crime. Showing the truth is not a crime. Defending animals is not a crime.”

“If exposing the truth can get people detained, then the problem is not the video … the problem is the act itself,” it went on, vowing to continue to speak up for animals despite efforts to silence activists.

The head of the Veterinary Doctors Syndicate in Lebanon, Ihab Shaaban, also denounced the actions against Nahfawi, saying the protection of animals should not be treated as a crime.

“Any attempt to intimidate or silence activists under the guise of defamation sets a worrying precedent, especially when the objection is directed against an act of violence and not against a religious or social characteristic,” he said in a statement cited by multiple local media reports on Tuesday.

Some officials also chimed in. While describing Nahfawi’s release as “the right step,” independent MP Mark Daou stressed however that the issue should not be taken lightly.

“The crime is the abuse, not exposing it,” he wrote on X on Tuesday.

Following years of pressure and advocacy, Lebanon passed the Animals Protection and Welfare Law in August 2017, making animal abuse a punishable crime.

Article 4 of said law prohibits “any act that may inflict distress, pain or suffering to animals or subject them to danger or torture.” Violators are subject to fines between 3 million and 20 million Lebanese pounds (about $33-$220).

Know more: Despite the law, its implementation has remained limited. Animal torture and abuse is widespread in Lebanon, with numerous online videos showing people poisoning or shooting their pets or stray animals, or even torturing them for their own entertainment.

In August 2025, a man was officially banned from owning pets for life after a video of him brutally slamming a kitten against the wall and floor of his balcony went viral.

A court imposed the lifetime ban following his conviction under the animal welfare law, marking the first such ruling in Lebanon. The surviving kittens were seized by authorities and placed in the care of Animals Lebanon.

Animal neglect in the country’s zoos has also made headlines. In October 2025, two malnourished lion cubs named Ozzy and Jana, who were forced to pose for photos with visitors at the Zazoo City zoo in Hazmieh, were rescued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animals Lebanon.

Following their rescue, both cubs were safely transferred to the Drakenstein Lion Park sanctuary in South Africa.