DUBAI // Rescue workers have called for a moratorium on pet shop trade licences, a restriction on animal imports and a crackdown on backstreet breeders to stem abandonment of pets.
They said that pet shops are opening in an already overcrowded market, while more illegal breeders are farming out pets to the public, contributing to an “epidemic” of unwanted cats and dogs.
“The pet trade is a very lucrative sector here,” said Debbie Lawson, of the Middle East Animal Foundation.
“It is a multi, multi-million dirham industry.”
“It is difficult to say how many pet shops there are – but there are hundreds – and more are opening every week.”
Calming measures should be introduced, she said.
“The numbers of abandoned animals are so dire that the animal welfare organisations here request the government to introduce a moratorium on issuing pet shop trade licences whilst trying to get the problem under control.
“Then, going forward, we strongly request that the government would introduce annual quotas to limit the number of pet shop trade licences.”
Quotas are also needed to restrict the number of animals being brought in, she said.
Jackie Ratcliffe, of K9 Friends, said there are “far too many” pet shops, which are the first port of call for many people looking for an animal. “The trouble is, when you buy from a pet shop they will bring in more to replace those sold,” she said. “We get a lot of people saying they rescued it from a pet shop.
“Sadly, that just encourages the shop to bring in even more.”
Ms Lawson said those illegally selling pets are also compounding the problem.
In Dubai, pet traders can only sell animals with a licence from the Dubai Department of Economic Development and approvals and documentation from Dubai Municipality and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. Animals must also be sold from licensed premises.
Despite this, pets are still being sold online or out of homes.
“Just look online,” said Ms Lawson. “These breeders are not paying for premises, they are not paying for trade licences. It is a black market and they are prolific.”
Lesley Muncey, of Feline Friends, said because of the sheer number of unwanted animals there should be a ban on pet imports until the problem is under control.
Feline Friends received an “unbelievable” number of calls asking to pick up kittens which have been bought from pet shops or from illegal traders operating out of villas, flats or even sold in car parks, she said.
Those animals have been thrown out on the street because of the unhygienic conditions they have been kept, leading to diseases such as ringworm, said Ms Muncey. The kittens are then sold to an unsuspecting customer who would rather abandon the animal than pay for costly vet treatment.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
