Members of the Ghobeiri municipality's Health Department created a public outcry at the end of 2017 when a video went viral showing them poisoning stray dogs in Dahiyeh, in south Beirut. They claimed to have been acting in response to complaints by residents and for the public's safety. The municipality issued a statement Dec. 29, the day after the incident, saying, “This was an individual act that members of the Health Department executed without orders from the head of the department concerned with controlling stray dogs. We strongly condemn this behavior.”
The video shows dogs on the ground, writhing in pain, as municipality officers stand by, waiting for them to die so they can take them away. The municipality announced that it had arrested those involved in the poisoning, paving the way for possible disciplinary legal action and behavioral measures.
