They are everywhere, yet hidden from plain sight. Street animals, particularly cats, are an ignored lot in the Kingdom. When was the last time the sight of an emaciated stray cat made you think about the hard life that she and others like her live? Their counterparts in various pet shops are thought to have better lives, though not many animal welfare activists and vets agree. Irresponsible pet shops for which animals are only a ‘business', the lackadaisical attitude of most people - shockingly including children - towards animals, a lack of awareness (Who remembered or even knew that Oct. 4 was observed as World Animal Day?), and the absence of an organized animal welfare body in the Kingdom have led a group of people to demand some form of animal welfare legislation here. “Although Islam has some of the oldest and strongest teachings espousing animal welfare, it seems there is only a glimmer of this reflected in our society. While many of us can recount the Hadith of the woman sent to hell for starving a cat or that of the serf who saved a dog by giving it water; how often do we see this enacted on our streets?,” asks veterinarian Dr. Lana Dunn of People's Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), an animal welfare group in Riyadh, in a telephone interview with Saudi Gazette. The group's aims, according to its Web site, are to “reduce the number of unwanted animals by addressing the source of the problems; unregulated breeding and abandonment, provide education and guidance for animal care and a neutering service to reduce their numbers humanely.” Saudi Arabia over the years hasn't been too kind to pet animals. The country's religious police has twice issued a ban, in 2006 and 2008, on selling cats and dogs. The reasons? Authorities claimed that keeping pets was in ‘violation of the Kingdom's culture and traditions' and that they were used by young men to lure girls in malls, respectively. The prohibition, however, failed to materialize both times within pet shops in major cities, such as, Jeddah and Riyadh. Dr. Dunn feels that pet shops are part of the problem. “Most animals in these places are housed in cages far too small, with incorrect bedding, a lack of toys and play things, no exercise and insufficient diet. Selling puppies and kittens like toys means the buyer learns little of the responsibilities of animal ownership,” she said, adding that she never uses pet shops as “any purchase from these places rewards their businesses for the way they keep animals.” Dr. Daisy Trilk, a Dutch senior veterinarian at European Veterinary Clinic in Jeddah agrees. “I tried to make a pet shop owner aware of the situation of the animals but he didn't seem to care nor understand,” she remarked in an interview with Saudi Gazette. “They should understand that the health of animals comes before the money-making business, as a pet that is brought home and falls sick within a week will not help to keep up the good name of the pet shop.” She added that small animals need a regular diet as they have sensitive digestive systems; failure to provide this can lead to their death. Dr. Trilk compares Saudi society that is “in the early stage of animal welfare awareness” to the West of the sixties and seventies, when the movement had just begun. She attributes the low level of animal welfare awareness in the Kingdom to social demographics. “On the one hand, expats from the West are actively involved in the animal welfare cause, but for the majority of expats, who are from poor countries, animals are not their priority as they are understandably more concerned about their own situations,” she remarked “Today in Europe, there are laws on pet sale, who can sell them, etc., and you cannot sell certain pets even in pet shops, where- as here, animals are sold in pet shops, supermarkets, etc. without any responsibility.” The greatest limitation, Dr. Dunn says, in her effort to spread animal welfare awareness is that she can't speak Arabic. “I cannot approach most of the children when they are cruel to animals because of my language. Moreover, because I'm not Saudi, people will contest my opinions of the need to care for animals, saying it is a ‘Western fashion' and we should not bring our opinions to upset the culture here. My wish for animal welfare in the Kingdom is that the teachings of Islam lead the nation and that there is a return to the compassion for animals that was taught by the Prophet (peace be upon him),” she said. Indeed, Islam's concern for animals is exhibited in a number of Hadiths that show the Prophet (pbuh) encouraging people to treat cats well. According to one Hadith, he once let a cat drink from the water that he was going to use for his ablutions before prayers. Estimating that about 80 percent of cats in the Kingdom live a hard life, Dr. Trilk stressed that their population control is important for their welfare. “However, many people either don't like the idea of neutering animals or they reject it. It's a complication,” she said. Both Dr. Trilk and Dr. Dunn, as well as others like them, are calling for legislation for animal protection, care, and shelter in Saudi Arabia. “Such has happened in other Middle Eastern countries; Jordan has a beautiful veterinary hospital to treat animals of the poor, Gulf states have state-sponsored shelters and even Palestine, with all its trouble of war and oppression, has charities for Allah's creatures. Our leaders should see the urgent need to regulate the trade of animals, ban the trade of unsafe and endangered species, enforce good care policies, and lead by example demonstrating the responsibilities we have for them,” said Dr. Dunn. The good news, however, is that animal welfare is slowly but steadily beginning to be recognized as a major concern in the Kingdom. A number of like-minded people with common interests of helping animals are coming together through various forums and groups, such as PAWs, Internet and Facebook groups, etc. “Groups in the Eastern Province are well-established, we are starting to grow in Riyadh and there is new interest in Jeddah for people to work with vets,” stated Dr. Dunn. The need of the hour, Dr. Trilk says, is to concentrate all the efforts into a “non-profit organization with a name, look, logo, an international website and establish contact with the local government”. And the first step in this direction is being taken as various individuals across the Kingdom working for animals convene a meeting in Jeddah on Nov. 18, the first time such a meeting has been organized on the issue. Until then, however, what can we do to help animals? “Aside from helping the injured or sick, the best way to improve their situation is to reduce their breeding with the help of your vet, and provide a clean source of food and water,” explained Dr. Dunn. Carol Fleming Al-Ajroush, a blogger in Riyadh who likes to call herself a ‘cat purrson' because of her immense involvement with the small creatures, gives an interesting account of how a Saudi man in Riyadh adopted a homeless cat, which are often thought to be incapable of domesticating. “We were filming a program about pets in Saudi Arabia at the clinic of a Riyadh vet when the vet received an emergency call. A kitten had been found and was in distress. About 20 minutes later a Saudi man walked into the clinic carrying a skinny kitten curled up in his arms. It was severely dehydrated. The man by chance noticed the kitten curled up underneath his car. The kitten failed to scamper off like a typical street cat,” narrated Carol. “The Saudi man said he had always admired and liked cats and had contemplated getting one...When he saw Lucky (the kitten) and the condition she was in, he knew he had to help her.” Carol said the vet explained the dehydration could have already affected Lucky's kidneys and that the next few days were critical for her survival. “The Saudi man stated that if she survives, he will keep her. The compassion this man showed touched my heart. When we think of kitty rescues in the Kingdom, the image of a Saudi man as the knight in shining armor is not the first that comes to mind,” she remarked, adding that his actions also reinforce the idea that an appreciation and understanding of pets is on the rise in the Kingdom. “And yes, Lucky made a full recovery with no damage to the kidneys and her rescuer indeed adopted her!” Carol said.
