However, doubts have been raised as to the intention of the leaflets. Senior Cheetham Hill councillor Naeem Hassan told the Manchester Evening News: “This has got to be a scam. I’m a Muslim and the Muslim law says that if you live in a country that is not Muslim, which is England, you respect the law of the land.
“In our house in Pakistan we keep dogs and many of my friends here have dogs. We keep ourselves clean and away from animals before prayer but Muslim people do keep dogs in their homes.
"I think this is somebody trying to divide the community. I do not see any problems at all. I want to say to people to just ignore this.
“Nobody in 30 years has ever raised any issue about this with me and we do not impose our beliefs on anyone.”
A website and Facebook page associated with the campaign were set up earlier this year, although neither feature any contact details or information regarding who is behind the leaflets.
A recent post on the “Politically Incorrect” forum of notorious website 4Chan seems to indicate that online trolls who gather on the site initiated the campaign to inflame racial tensions.
A 4Chan post, featuring a screenshot of the leaflet being shared on the Manchester Evening News Facebook page, includes the text: "This is soo good, so many of them are responding to the P-blicP-rity website (don't use the actual name so news outlets like Jewzebel [sic] and other leftie shills don't search up the archives and out us) Refer to the image, but well done, it's picking up."
Another comment on the 4Chan thread reads: "Like the FB page if you haven't, this needs to look legit, and don't worry the facebook page settings are such so that people who have liked the page aren't visible, just the number of people who have liked it."
Salford resident Clifton Green, who received a leaflet through his door, told MEN: “There are mixed messages on Facebook. There are people who are suggesting that this is being done to get a rise out of people but it could be people that are against Muslims - to whip up issues.
“I am slightly concerned by it. I have got a lot of Muslim friends and people who I work with. It is going down the route of telling people how to live their lives and I do not think anyone should be doing that. I would not impose my beliefs and my view of life on other people.”