A MAGA lawmaker has unveiled a controversial, so-called “Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act,” after a week of posting conspiracy theories about Muslims on social media.
Florida Representative Randy Fine announced the bill on Thursday. The proposed legislation would cut off federal funding to states that prohibit dog ownership or consider owning a dog to be “haram.”
It comes after he alleged that New Yorkers could be banned from owning dogs as part of a plan driven by Muslim supporters of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
While unveiling the legislation, he addressed Mayor Mamdani, who is a Muslim, directly.
“I am proud to introduce the Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act,” Fine wrote. “Democrats are losing their minds because I made a simple statement—given a choice between our dogs and those who would ban them, the choice is easy.
“They can pound sand.
“This bill will ban federal funds to any state or local government that considers dogs ‘haram,’” he continued. “Proceed accordingly, Mamdani.”
Fine unveiled the bill after days of posting on social media about dogs and their relationship to Islam.
His tirade kicked off on Sunday, after he re-shared a satirical post from a Mamdani supporter which appeared to criticize the concept of keeping dogs as pets.
“Finally, NYC is coming to Islam,” the post, re-shared by Fine, read. “Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean.”
Fine replied, “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Mayor Mamdani has never suggested banning dogs in New York City and has repeatedly expressed his support for freedom of religion.
“This city is home to people of countless faiths,” Mayor Mamdani wrote on February 15. “But no matter what you believe, one thing unites us: we are all New Yorkers.”
Fine’s comments ignited a social media firestorm, with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez describing his remarks as “one of the most disgusting statements” that she had ever seen.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also blasted Fine on social media.
“Resign now, you racist slob,” he wrote.
Even conservative commentators were outraged by Fine’s remarks, with Megyn Kelly replying “wtf is this” to his post on X.
Mark Mitchell, a pollster at the right-wing organization Rasmussen Reports, wrote, “Hey @GOP. Not a good look.”
Two days later, Fine doubled down on his comments on Newsmax’s Wake Up America.
He suggested that the Democratic Party supported illegal immigration and wanted to give people “free stuff,” before claiming that the party wanted to change “how we live as Americans.”
“My post is in response to a major Muslim leader saying dogs should be forbidden from New York City because, to some Muslims, it bothers them,” he said.
“Well, if they’re gonna make us choose between our dogs and them going home, the choice is easy, and people should know Democrats like AOC are saying, ‘We are going to get rid of your dogs.’
“Americans need to keep that in mind when they go to vote in November.”
Last year, Fine made headlines for his proposed No Sharia Act, which would have banned the implementation of Sharia law in any part of the United States.
Sharia is a system of moral and legal principles based on the teachings of the Qur’an.
He claimed in a press release that allowing Sharia law to be practised in the United States would “allow foreign values to overtake our country’s legal system.”
In the press release, Fine also repeated debunked conspiracy theories about immigration into the United Kingdom and Europe.
“We’ve seen what has happened in the UK and across Europe with the spread of Sharia, and it is not an exaggeration to say it is coming here next,” he wrote.
President Donald Trump suggested in September 2025 that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wanted the British capital to “go to Sharia law.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Khan said at the time that the politician, who has been re-elected by Londoners three times, would not “dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.”
“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here,” the spokesperson added.
The Independent has contacted Representative Fine and the Council on American-Islamic Relations for comment.
