Friday 1 August 2008

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.

Dogs and cats in Saudi Arabia to Home page

8 comments:

  1. hey there
    i live in saudi arabia n i just purchased a kitten a month ago..almost every pet store over here are selling cats and dogs regardless of the ban

    ReplyDelete
  2. I live in saudi arabia & to be honest as a western I'd be glad if they closed down the petshops over here!

    The petshops in saudi arabia are run buy un-educated & un-civilised individuals who think nothing of sticking 20-30 tiny kittens in a tiny cage with no water & only dried biscuits to eat & if other pets shops give them water then its more times than none that the water is green & slimy! And its the only country Ive lived in where petshops think dunking a budgie in food colouring to make it look all pretty with different rainbow colours is normal!!

    WSPCA would have a field day in this country & to be quite frank I'm not surprised there not allowed into saudi because then the outside world would actually see how bad animals are treated in this place. I don't agree with buying animals from petshops at all as it only profits the monsters that own the place & they just simply restock.

    The petshops are extremely cruel & disgusting. This country needs to be educated on how animals are suppose to be treated. They only seem to care about pure bred arabian horses, the highest priced bird that they can fly around in the middle of the desert, lovely fluffy persians that look pretty sitting on there sofa until they get bored of it or its no longer that cute little bundle of fluff & so they throw it out into the street or the lovely tiny little cute dogs that can fit in your handbag this country is very vain when it comes to animals its about time they realised that animals ARE NOT fashion accessories just because they have seen the likes of Paris Hilton parading one around on the red carpet.

    & Street cats are treated like vermin & kicked or aimed at in cars but the most surprising thing is, is that the Prophet Muhammed had a cat called Muezza who he absolutely adored! But you'll find that this is not acknowledged & even sometimes denied!

    They were also trying to close down vets at one point as ''it is interfering with gods way'' well if that is there way of thinking then they would have to close down ever single hospital & medical centre in this country cause after all..............arent they also interfering with gods way!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hey u live in riyadh and i am going to adopt a cat from a adoption house as i love cats i feed so many cats around my house i fed over 8 cats today with tuna they where like so scared and eat like they never had before there is a small adoption house named openpaws which neuter these cats.....and in riyadh there are so many feral cats in need.and any one interested in cats or dogs click openpaws.org which give away pets for adoption all pets are clean so if you can adopt those little ones and help them...and about the ban it is ridiculous

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just real Animal Lovers comment and i agree that its ridiculous that the laws here are so twisted! They ban pets and allow animal cruelty in pet shops.
    Its ridiculous to ban Vets!what will happen to all the animals..the expensive animals that they invest in?..I dont think it will happen.They will just make vets less accessible to normal fokes and less affordable for us all..it sucks!! and all done in the name of RELIGiION!!Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've lived here for over ten years and nothing surprises me anymore. There is no rhyme or reason in the what they come up with in the name of religion!! As for this ban on cats and dogs shame they don't sort out real issues like child abuse spousal abuse and of course the abuse of housemaids....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Im saudi and i own 4 dogs they get their walks it's all about knowing where to go! yes the banning is absolutely retarded but no one cared and people still buy dogs and cats and now they import their pets like i did with all 4 dogs.

    Animal Lover not all people in saudi are uneducated about animals YES pet store owners are assholes and only care about money but people here are starting to understand more and more how valuable pets are specially dogs! i joined a group here of dog lovers and boy was i surprised of how many people love dog around here and most own big dogs which is awesome.

    I don't blame people to get all this wrong and all saudi's don't understand shit about animals but it's not true there are animal lovers out there who would kill to save a helpless

    Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi I'm not Saudi -Actually i'm Yemeni- but i born and live in K.S.A all my life.
    For now i have 9 cats and they will be more after one month and half.
    2 of my cats i did buy, 4 i found them on street and i've watched 'em for 1 week and half "they didn't have a mother-i don't know what happens to her- so i took them and adopted 'em- my mother cat helped me to feed them as well,
    the other also found them out side hungry or sick i couldn't let them" so in the end i took them to my house.
    most of my cats i didn't give them the second vaccination, 2 of 'em has fungus
    * one of them i lost her and i still searchin' for her

    And i don't want to give them away because i know people here won't take care of them and because most of them aren't from "high class breeds" .
    I hope i can find a real cat lover to help me...

    In short, i need HELP from individuals and organizations who cares about pets so we open a place for cats here, if that's can not happen here at least can you help me by adoptin' some of m cats they need more care and it's hard for me to handle and care of 8 cats at the same time and really it's too expensive for me i'm unemployed; cats' expenses were giving by my dad and my older sisters -though one of my sis has cats phobia she still support me-

    Thank you for readin' and your time
    (sorry to post this here but i desperately need help)

    *To contact me: sweetmeme-9@windowslive.com

    ReplyDelete

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