Eeyore

Every Thursday, 7 Days runs a column in which a local Islamic scholar answers readers' questions about local culture. Within the last month or so, one of the questions was about Muslim attitudes towards pets, specifically dogs.

You can read the full answer here. The short version is that it is a "big misconception" that Muslims avoid dogs, and it stems from the fact that there is a hadith that states that if a dog eats from your plate of food, you should wash the plate seven times, including once with sand.