Portland Public Schools is facing an uproar after Abdullahi Ahmed, the district’s assistant superintendent for student, family, and community partnerships, pressed for changes to a proposed animal policy based on Islamic ritual purity concerns. The Somali-born Muslim official focused specifically on dogs and dog saliva.

The Maine Wire reported that the Portland Public Schools Policy Committee met on October 14 to consider the district’s newly proposed rules governing animals in schools. What began as a policy discussion quickly became a religious controversy.

The current draft requires school administrators to approve animals before they are brought into schools. It also states that service animals must be certified and domestic animals must be restrained.

Ahmed argued that the rules concerning dogs should change because of Islamic teachings about ritual purity. He singled out dog saliva while explaining why Muslim students and staff could object to interactions with dogs in the school environment.

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“In Islamic tradition, there is always love for animals and living things and compassion for animals,” Ahmed said. His remarks then shifted from that broad declaration of compassion to the religious purity concern at the center of his position.

“With that being said, there are some ritual purity that Islamic traditions state and Muslims exercise, so, for example, dog saliva is considered impure.” Ahmed’s comments placed a specific Islamic religious practice directly inside a public school policy debate.

Ahmed also said he did not want the district “to have a dog as a class pet.” That position goes beyond discussing accidental contact with an animal and addresses whether a dog should be allowed to remain in a classroom as a pet.

He further argued that students and employees “should not be required to interact” with dogs at school. His proposal therefore focused both on classroom pets and on whether people in the district could be expected to have contact with the animals.

The draft policy already addresses administrative permission, certified service animals, and restraints for domestic animals. Ahmed’s objection introduced another consideration by asking the committee to account for Islamic ritual purity when setting rules involving dogs.

The meeting did not merely feature a general discussion about allergies, safety, or animal control. Ahmed specifically connected his desired policy change to a religious teaching that regards dog saliva as impure.

WATCH: A Muslim school administrator in Maine wants to ban dogs from being class pets because dog saliva is considered impure under Islamic law.

Abdullahi Ahmed, a senior administrator at Portland Public Schools in Maine, argued that students and staff “should not be required to interact” with animals at school, and that dogs should be kept out of classrooms and common areas. Instead, kids would “opt in” to visiting a dog in a separate room. Speaking at an Oct. 14 school board policy committee meeting, Ahmed said that under Islamic tradition “the dog’s saliva is considered impure,” and that letting some students pet a dog while others can’t creates conflict. He added that he’d prefer the district “not to have a dog as a class pet.” The board is drafting a new “Animals in Schools” policy, sparked by a teacher’s plan to foster puppies in her classroom. — Off The Press (@OffThePress1) October 19, 2026

His comments immediately drew attention because they involved a public school district potentially changing animal rules around the religious customs of one faith. Critics were especially incensed by the suggestion that dogs should be excluded as classroom pets because of that belief.

The setting also attracted notice. Ahmed delivered his remarks while seated in front of an Iraqi flag, an image that added another provocative visual element as he discussed bringing Islamic ritual purity concerns into the district’s animal policy.

Americans responded with plenty of harsh words after the remarks became public. Many told Ahmed in unmistakable terms that he should return to where he came from rather than impose his cultural practices on Maine residents.

The outrage centered on the contrast between the existing draft and Ahmed’s requested change. The draft sets operational requirements for animals, while Ahmed asked the committee to consider a religious judgment about impurity and contact with dogs.

Ahmed attempted to frame his position with language about love and compassion for animals. Yet his stated policy preferences remained clear: He opposed having a dog as a classroom pet and said students and staff should not be required to interact with dogs.

That distinction is what turned a routine school policy meeting into a public controversy. The district’s proposal concerned approval, certification, and restraint, but Ahmed’s remarks injected Islamic ritual purity into the question of how dogs may be treated within Portland schools.

The uproar reflects the blunt nature of the request and the public setting in which it was made. A Portland Public Schools administrator openly asked for dog-related policy changes while citing Islamic tradition and declaring dog saliva impure.

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