Financial Tribune - A court in Hurand, East Azarbaijan Province, has sentenced two animal abusers to 500 hours of community service.

"The two were convicted of animal cruelty and sentenced to do 500 hours of unpaid environmental service, including the study and distribution of books about wildlife protection," an official with the provincial office of the Department of Environment, Ali Taqipour, said.

They were charged with battering a fox trapped in a water well to death using stones and sticks, he was quoted as saying by IRNA. Repeated perpetration of animal abuse could result in imprisonment and the convict's cooperation could convince the court to commute the sentence, Taqipour added. This is but one example of widespread cruelty against animals in Iran.