27 July 2006

Abu Dhabi: Beatings, abuse, malnutrition, torture and animal fights; that is the treatment animals face regularly, much to the dismay of animal activists.

They are volunteers who dedicate their time and money to help, vaccinate animals, providing them with homes and even putting some to sleep.

Ignorance is cited as the main reason animals are being mistreated, and pet lovers say the best way to fight animal abuse is by educating people, especially children, about animal welfare.

Gulf News visited some of the shops, only to find some animals in appalling conditions.

Shop employees claim animals "could eat anything, even rice", something that Katy L., an animal activist, strongly disagrees with.

"I was dropping off cats I had had vaccinated near the animal market, and I saw two Persian cats on the street near one of the shops," she says.

"They were furless; I caught them and tried to speak to people in the shops. The cats were very sick they had ringworm."

"I called Feline Friends and asked if we can do something, and they told me they have many cases like this, and treating them would be almost impossible. We had to put them to sleep because we can't throw them on the streets, for fear of other cats catching the disease."

According to Katy, once pet owners see signs of ringworm, they throw animals out because the disease is very contagious and they don't want the other animals to become ill.

"I tried to convince shop owners that if they found any cases like this to call Feline Friends. It's inhuman to throw animals on the street and let them starve to death. Of course, no one called," she added.

Klaudia, a long-time Abu Dhabi resident says that she has long been buying hamsters from the animal markets, and that most of the ones she purchased looked sick and were very thin.

"The cages that they are kept in are very small and smelly; this obviously shows the lack of experience in taking care of animals," she said. "The animals that I bought didn't live for long and were not as active as they should be.

"I believe these animals deserve to be treated better and it is unfair that they are kept in such conditions. It is the sad truth of animal conditions in the animal market."

Gulf News repeatedly tried to contact officials at the Abu Dhabi Municipality and the Ministry of Environment and Water in Abu Dhabi for comments on the status of animal welfare, however, the attempts were unsuccessful.

An official at the Ministry of Environment and Water in Dubai said the new animal welfare law will be ready "within the next few weeks".

Educating sellers and owners 'important'

British Veterinary Clinic surgeon Dr Jonathan Hale says that a visit to the veterinarians is important since most animal shopkeepers do not have licences, and do not know how to treat the animals properly.

"Some shops treat animals themselves with medicines they have there. But they don't have licences, and if they don't complete the medication course, we have resistant animals. Animals should not receive medical treatment in the market, but by a licensed vet."

"It's not healthy to transport them at the age of six or seven weeks old, they are still too young. Also, in the UAE, it's illegal for animals to be brought in if they are under four months of age, because they have to be vaccinated against rabies at three months. Many small animals in the market come with communicable diseases that are contagious to humans and to other animals."

"I've been here three years and I see that animals are not rated very highly," he said. "People are looking for cheap animals, almost disposable. Children buy pets, and when they get to four months old, they are no longer as cute, so they throw them out."

"Mistreatment will always be a problem as long as people attribute no value to animals."

He said animal cruelty is not innate to any culture, but that the problem lies within communication. "We should be talking about it more," he says.

By Mohammad Shamseddine and Rania Habib

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.