A real estate agency is sealed off and its owner arrested in Iran after a video went viral of the property agency transferring the ownership of an apartment to a dog.

The footage showed an Iranian couple signing a contract transferring the title of their apartment to their small furry white dog Chester.

In the video, which seems like a practical joke, the agent is shown describing the property while Chester's owner places his pawprint on the deed.

Iran’s police issued a statement on Sunday announcing the arrest and the shutdown of the agency, with Tehran’s deputy prosecutor Reza Tabar mentioning “issuing an invalid contract for an apartment unit” as the reason behind the arrest. He added that “this action is illegal and was meant to demean the norms of society.”

The Islamic Republic regime views keeping dogs as a symbol of Westernization that can be dangerous and should be prohibited. Dogs are generally considered 'impure' in Islam and banned in public places by some majority-Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia. Iranian parliamentarians in November proposed a bill banning selling and keeping of pets.

Lawmakers backing the measure claimed the ban was meant to protect public health. While working dogs have always been common in Iran’s rural areas and on farms, keeping pets has only recently become fashionable in urban areas despite occasional police crackdowns.