Liaison office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani (L.M.H.L) in London, Europe, North and South America.
2618. If a retriever hunts a wild animal whose meat is halal to eat,
the following six conditions should be fulfilled for its being Pak and
halal:
The dog should be trained in such a way that when commanded to catch the
prey, it goes and when restrained from going, it stops. But if it does not
stop after having come closer to the hunted animal and seen it, there is no
harm.
And it is necessary that it should have a habit of not eating
anything of the prey till its master arrives. In fact, if it has the habit
of eating bit of the prey before the master arrives, or drinking its blood,
there is no objection.
It should have been directed by its master. If it hunts of its own accord
and preys upon an animal, it is haraam to eat the meat of that animal. In
fact, if it follows a prey of its own accord, and later its master calls out
to encourage it to reach the prey faster, even if it may quicken its pace
because of its master's cry, eating the meat of that prey should be avoided,
on the basis of obligatory precaution.
The person who sends the dog for hunt should be a Muslim, with all the
conditions already mentioned in the rules concerning hunting with the
weapon.
The hunter should utter the name of Allah at the time of sending the dog.
If he purposely does not utter the name of Allah, the prey is haraam. But
if he forgets to utter the name of Allah there is no harm in it.
The prey should die as a result of the wound inflicted by the dog's
teeth. Therefore, if the dog suffocates the prey to death, or the prey dies
because of running or fear, it is not halal.
The hunter who sends the dog should reach the spot when the animal is
dead, or if it is alive, there should not be enough time to slaughter it.
But if he reaches there when there is enough time to slaughter it, yet he
does not slaughter it, allowing it to die itself, the prey is not halal.
2619. When a person who sends the dog reaches the prey when he can
slaughter the animal, but the animal dies while he is preparing for the
slaughter, like, the delay in taking out the knife, the animal is halal.
However, if he does not have anything with which he can slaughter the animal,
and it dies, it does not become halal, but if he releases the animal so that the
dog may kill it, it will become halal.
2620. If a person sends several dogs, and they jointly hunt an animal,
and if all of them satisfy the conditions mentioned in rule 2618, the prey is
halal, but if any one of them does not fulfil those conditions, the prey is
haraam.
2621. If a person sends a dog for hunting an animal and that dog hunts
another animal, the prey is halal and Pak, and if it hunts another animal along
with that animal (which it was sent to hunt), both of them are halal and Pak.
2622. If several persons send a dog jointly and one of them does not
utter the name of Allah intentionally, that prey is haraam. Also, if one of the
dogs sent is not trained in the manner mentioned in rule 2618, the prey is
haraam.
2623. If a hawk or an animal besides the hunting dog hunts an animal,
the prey is not halal. However, if a person reaches the prey when it is alive,
and slaughters it in the manner prescribed by Shariah, it is halal.