Don't buy a dog in Oman - another example of how badly Animals are treated in Oman

I know, Y magazine did a great bust on the helpless animal concentration and torture camp , oops, er, "Zoo", a couple of months ago. Readers may note that the "Zoo" is apparently still open for business and, so I hear, was even threatening Y with a law suit for having the audacity to actually publish the facts of their disgusting mistreatment of animals. After-all, it doesn't seem to be illegal in Oman to do that to animals.

But I received a nasty report on how those cute little puppies in the pet stores are obtained and treated. And it's mainly our own fault.


Photo: The cute puppy from the Sabco pet shop, "Creatures", that was about to die a horrific death a few days later.


Omani regulations require that a dog imported for sale is at least 4 months old. 16 weeks. And, naturally, that it's had its shots against common (and very nasty and usually fatal) doggy diseases, like distemper.

The problem is that this regulation is subverted as a matter of standard operating procedure by pet shops providing fake documentation. Now, while providing such false documents carries a penalty under Omani law of 3 to 10 years in jail, this ain't happening, naturally.

This is the story I received from a reliable source.

A fairly traumatic time in purchasing a new puppy from the pet shop in Sabco Centre.

To cut a long story short, the puppy was transferred from the shop to the vet clinic last week for some jabs etc. We arranged to pick it up today, but when we got there we were told it was about to die from Parvovirus. In 3 days it went from a lively, playful pup to a bag of bones dying in its own vomit – horrible to see.

Of course puppies do get illnesses and some do not survive. However, the way in which this pet shop has ignored the basic rules is shocking.

I attach herewith the "Pet Passport" we were given when we bought her, and the actual Kennel Club Reg / Birth Certificate.

The "Pet Passport" shows a DOB of 25 Nov 2009. The real birth certificate states the CORRECT DOB as 10 Jan 2010.

When I initially queried the difference, we were told that puppies are not allowed to be imported younger than 4 months of age, so the paperwork is fiddled. This seems to be a perfectly acceptable practice as far as the pet shop was concerned.

The pet shop... is complicit in breaking the rules and putting these animals health at risk.

The vet said that this puppy (and many others) was exported / imported at far too young an age. Also, its vaccinations were given far too young to be effective. (In fact, they would probably have proved harmful). This pet shop has always had a bad reputation when it comes to animal welfare. However, lately we thought they had improved.

People need to know that our puppy is suffering a horrible death covered in its own excrement just because they ignored the rules, and put money first.

Our dog had her DHPP Vaccine (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza and Parvovirus) at 2 WEEKS of age (on 25/1/10 as indicated on the pet passport). The following states that it should only be given at 6 weeks+ to start taking over the maternal antibodies.

...

The high demand for pedigree puppies is fuelling this trade, which can be avoided if more people who want a dog approach the local Animal Rescue Charities, who have many dozen dogs at foster homes.

There is a very reputable, well run Pet Shop in Dubai who discuss at length these sort of problems in the UAE pet scene. These problems are:
- importing too young
- obtaining dogs from horrific "puppy farms" in the 3rd world (in the case above the dog was 'farmed' in Thailand)
- not effectively quarantining dogs before selling them
- not looking after the animals properly.

Of course, their dogs cost a lot more, as all that good treatment and European sourcing ain't free. Around 1,200 rials each. Our correspondent's dog from the Sabco death camp was (a still rather pricey) 650 rials. As is often the case in Oman, we tend to do things on the cheap, and suffer the results.

People. STOP BUYING IMPORTED DOGS*.

Just STOP!

There are thousands of abandoned dogs in need of a loving home. If you must have a dog (and do remember this is a Muslim country and populated by people who are generally not big doggie fans) get one of these. Contact any vet.

If you simply MUST have a fancy pure bread dog, import it yourself, perhaps through these nice people in Dubai. And always make sure it hasn't come from some nasty 3rd world breeding farm.

I know our dog buyer has learnt a lesson. But I'll be the first to point out what an idiot he was buying this dog in the first place. Ms Dragon would lock him in a cage and infect him with parvovirus if she had her want.


* and stop buying those long haired fancy cats too. Who does that??? Haven't you noticed it gets rather *%&^% hot in this country?

Oman Imports Gas for the first time ever, 30yrs after first gas from Yibal.

Oh, in my darkened state, performing death defying feats worthy of Cirque du Soleil to change light bulbs (here's a photo), I almost forgot there was actually some real news today!

Almost in time for the 30th anniversary of Oman's domestic gas production by PDO, Oman has finally got its first gas imports from Qatar.

Its a daily volume equivalent to about 8% of Oman's total gas produced domestically from Government owned fields and sold to downstream customers. As the agreement was signed in 2005, the price probably ain't too bad, especially at the lower oil prices these days. And Oman got to sell gas the other way for a few years too, which paid for the pipeline etc.

Rumour has it we could have gotten the gas earlier, except it was desperately needed in the UAE for power stations, and needed especially urgently with RAK Gas's gas processing plant in the UAE down after a small.... fire incident (no one hurt apparently), and electricity demand maxed out by the summer heat.

This is great news for Oman, as long as the price is right, which I don't know well enough to post. Oman needs the gas, and this will give a bit of breathing space for a few years at least.

PS: If anyone can find that price out, email me and I'll probably send you a big dragon thank you.

Dolphin Energy delivers first natural gas to Oman

Nov 1, 2008

WAM ABU DHABI, Nov. 1st, 2008: Dolphin Energy Limited today said it began to supply gas to Oman today, completing the strategic Qatar-UAE-Oman natural gas grid first proposed in 1999.

The company announced that Dolphin gas from Qatar was now flowing to the Sultanate for the very first time, as part of a 25 year Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) signed in 2005.

Al Dolphin's gas is produced offshore Qatar and is processed onshore at its Ras Laffan Gas Processing Plant. The gas is then compressed and pumped through the Export Pipeline to Dolphin's Receiving Facilities in Abu Dhabi, UAE, for distribution to customers.

Supplies for Oman subsequently flow across the country via the company's Eastern Gas Distribution System (EGDS) to Al Ain, where the EGDS connects with a new Omani pipeline on the Oman border.

Dolphin Energy began to deliver gas to UAE customers in July 2007: it has been supplying them with an average of 2 billion standard cubic feet of gas a day (scf/day) since February 2008. Oman will be receiving some 10 percent of this quantity, 200 million scf/day, under the terms of the GSA.

Dolphin Energy's CEO, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh said: "This is a historic moment for Dolphin Energy - it is equally significant for the three nations who have embraced and supported the Dolphin Gas Project from the very beginning.

"We have always been grateful for Oman's supply of gas to our Al Ain-Fujairah pipeline project in 2004, which enabled us to deliver much needed gas to the Northern Emirates three to four years earlier than if we had waited for completion of our Qatar facilities.

"Now Dolphin, in its turn, can contribute to Oman's own future economic growth." Dolphin Energy Limited was created to develop substantial energy projects throughout the GCC and to create long-term economic wealth and new business opportunities for GCC citizens, far into the future.

Dolphin Energy's major strategic initiative, the Dolphin Project, involves the production and processing of natural gas from Qatar's North Field, and transportation of the dry gas by sub-sea export pipeline from Qatar to the UAE, which began in July 2007.

Oman to start importing gas in July

Breaking news. Oman will start importing Gas this year.

A couple of my colleagues in another Ministry - the Ministry of Oil and Gas - told me that Oman will finally start importing Gas from Qatar, via the UAE pipeline, around July this year. The gas pipeline to the UAE was built a few years ago to enable Oman to supply gas to a power station in Dubai while they waited for the gas to arrive from Qatar. It also enabled the pipe to be laid ostensibly to export gas from Oman, even though everyone knew it would be the source of imports eventually (and a careful reading of official releases makes that clear).

Imports will be around 5.2 million m3/d, equivalent to some 8% of Oman's current gas demand. What they wouldn't tell me is the price. I'll dig into that and report soon. What will be interesting is to compare the price for the imported gas with the prices given to the Sohar and Salalah Gas based industries. It will certainly be a lot less than the Government gets from the LNG plants at Sur. But it will emphasise the true subsidy the new industries are receiving.

How is Oman getting the gas at all, and why? A ha! Both good questions reader. I'll explain that once I sort out the price thing. It's a long story. And not all bad news for Oman.

Also to come this week, the strange story of the Methanol plant in Salalah and how the Government seems ready to subsidise it's gas even more than they are already!

The Dragon