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?

UAE Minister sacked over business fraud case

The recent sacking of a UAE Minister, Dr. Khalifa Bakhit Al Falasi, was widely reported last week, and a few commentators have asked me if there’s any more to the story.

Of course there is. The Zawya story seems to get closest to what supposedly went on (see below). And now its reported he’ll be up in court on Sept 15th facing the public prosecutor (ie this seems to be a criminal case for fraud, not a civil case). Here he is in, presumeably, happier days.

The story: My source tells me that Dr. Bakheet Al Falasi was in partnership with a Lebanese Businessman, who built a successful company dealing in the manufacture of security smart cards and other high end printing products. The business had a load of expensive machines, and premises. Business had grown over the years and was good.

Unfortunately, the Lebanese businessman died. When his wife and son returned to the UAE, it is alleged that they found the good Minister had somehow managed to acquire the company and all its assets, leaving next to nothing for them. She went to the cops. The cops clearly felt there was a case to answer.

Of course, the rumors would have it that its not a very good indication of his chances in court that he’s been sacked as a Minister before the case, and that the public prosectutor agreed to pursue the case at all. In the UAE, a public prosecutor doesn't take on a Minister lightly, especially a relatively rich businessman Minister.

The trend is definitely one of the UAE wanting to be seen as a place where the rule of law takes precedence over the old ways of connections and fiat power, emphasised also by the recent case of the UAE Ministry official who was done for selling visas on the side.

It will be very interesting to see how the big Omani test case of the (well blogged, but poorly reported) Blue City dispute between Cyclone LLC and Bahrain's AAJH ends up, seeing as Cyclone is apparently significantly owned by HH Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq al Said, Oman's Minister of Heritage and Culture.

For those of you living a cave, here's one of the many press reports about the UAE Minister - this one from Gulf News

UAE Minister relieved from post
Staff Report
Published: July 27, 2008, 17:57

Abu Dhabi: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a federal decree relieving Dr. Khalifa Bakheet Al Falasi from his post as Minister of State, WAM reported.

Gulf News and other newspapers had earlier published a report quoting Dubai's Attorney General Essam Eisa Al Humaidan as saying that the Public Prosecution had referred a minister and his supposed associates to the Dubai Court of First Instance where they would be prosecuted.

The case had been filed by a Lebanese businesswoman.

"A woman allegedly accused the minister of breaching the trust of her family's business, including a huge property and a company based in Dubai," Al Humaidan said.

And the pretty accurate Zawya Story published a week earlier.

U.A.E. Minister Al Falasi Faces Charges Of Fraud - Official
Monday, Jul 21, 2008

BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--United Arab Emirates Minister of State Khalifa Bakheet Al Falasi will face charges in the emirates for breach of trust and fraud in a case filed by a Lebanese woman, senior Dubai officials said Monday.

Al Falasi's case, referred to court by the Dubai Public Prosecution, was originally filed in Abu Dhabi by the Lebanese woman who claims Al Falasi mishandled the assets of her brother after his death, an official, who declined to be identified, told Zawya Dow Jones Monday.

The Lebanese businessman owned several companies in Dubai and took Al Falasi as a local partner since 1995.

Al Falasi refused to talk about the case after repeated calls to his office by Zawya Dow Jones.

The case is the latest in a series of high profile fraud scandals in Dubai following the arrest of the former chief executive of Deyaar Development Co and a number of business executives linked to an investigation into financial mismanagement at Dubai Islamic Bank.

"The Dubai government will not tolerate any corruption," another senior government official told Zawya Dow Jones Monday. "The public prosecution is taking the case to court." He declined to give further details.

Al Falasi is still officially a member of the U.A.E. government, he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------