Dogs and cats in Saudi Arabia

Photo by Roobee

The cat above is obeying the law in Riyadh Saudi Arabia as she is indoors. If she was outside in a public place she'd be confiscated by the religious police. Photo published under a creative commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike License

In Saudi Arabia they can do these things; ban the selling and/or exercising (walking) in public of dogs and cats in Riyadh. Dogs and cats in Saudi Arabia are going to have a hard time, particularly dogs, as they can't really exist without some exercise and the usual way to do this is walking. Cats are a different kettle of fish but they do need exercise but not on a lead; that is extremely rare anywhere never mind Saudi Arabia.

This is, in effect, a ban on dogs and cats in Saudi Arabia, period. But it would seem that people tend to ignore it. And of course it must be hard to enforce. The reason is to stop men using dogs (I presume) as a means to introduce themselves to the opposite sex in public. The sexes have to be separated it seems. All very proper (on the face of it). The religious police AKA Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has instigated this.

It would seem all but impossible for a men to use a cat in a restaurant or cafe to introduce himself to a single women. First you have to leash train your cat. Then it may be a long walk down a pavement to the nearest cafe. Or you'll have to travel in a car and cats get nervous in cars normally. Then there's all the hubbub of the street and the cafe. That's likely to scare your cat. Then by the time you get to casually meet a women your cat's going to be defensive towards her or scratch her if she can get near your cat who you are probably carrying. Cats need to be socialized to street life and most cats are familiar with relatively quiet home life or back garden life. The noise etc. of the street in daytime would probably frighten them.

Nah, I just don't see cats being a good way to introduce yourself in public. But if the sale of cats is banned and that means no business for cat breeders in Riyadh. But I guess you could buy a cat somewhere else. Are there cat breeders in Riyadh? I would doubt it and if there are, not many.

You just couldn't do this in the West. There is something highly effective about the way laws are passed in Saudi. It's very immediate and more effective for it. Something like it is needed to deal with feral cats in the USA provided it is humane and no cats get killed. I for one am against this Saudi law as are all the authors who have made posts about it. It just seems a bit silly. I don't think dogs and cats in Saudi Arabia should be overly concerned as it'll probably fizzle out.

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