April 14, 2018 Comments Off on Reykjavik had a ban on keeping dogs as pets – it was active from 1924 until 1984 Views: 1916 Imago, Weird Laws

The more northern, the stranger. While cats are still not allowed in the world’s northernmost town that has more than a thousand residents, that is Longyearbyen in Norway, our cat friends thrive greatly in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. That is so, partially because the city had an active ban on dogs in the past, a legal enforcement that was repealed in 1984.But how was it voted in the first place?

According to the Smithsonian, this ban was introduced in 1924 as a precautionary measure to prevent echinococcosis, a kind of tapeworm that can be transferred from dogs to humans. Echinococcosis is notorious, not only for it can cause blindness and other serious health complications, but as was the case with Iceland during the late 19th and early 20th century, this disease was the cause of death for too many people. One-fifth of autopsies performed in Iceland during the 1880s revealed precisely the specific tapeworm as the reason for dying.

Nowadays, residents of Reykjavik are able to keep a dog, however, they first need to obtain permission from authorities and also make sure they do not miss any of the requirements asked from them, such as having the dog microchipped, vaccinated and checked free from worms and leashes.

The decades-long ban on keeping dogs as pets has, however, had its influence. Meaning, Reykjavik has grown to be a cat-loving town, with polls showing there is one cat for every ten residents living in the capital of the country. The little feline friends seem to be omnipresent, an inevitable part of the Reykjavik urbanscapes. So much that they even have a dedicated page on Facebook, called Cats of Reykjavik.

Iceland is also famous for more weird laws and rigid regulations in the past. For instance, from 1915 until 1989, there was a strict prohibition on selling alcohol across the island country in the North Atlantic. The enforcement, in effect, did not allow selling beer beverages that had more than 2.25 percent of alcohol. Fortunately, this law has been dropped down as well, though today, prices for drinks in Iceland can be quite sky-rocketing.

Some more weird laws: It is a crime to forget your wife’s birthday in Samoa

Tags: Iceland, Reykjavik, this city knows, weird laws