Treatment of animals will soon be regulated

Welfare organisations and vets praise legislation that gets tough with abusers and penalises people who abandon pets.

Kitten on sale in the animal souq in the Meena area of Abu Dhabi. New regulations on how animals are cared for will apply to pet shops.

A law regulating animal research and minimum standards for the care and sale of pets is expected to be passed soon after a 12-month delay. The new law stipulates jail terms and fines of up to Dh20,000 (US$5,445) for people abusing animals. The document is now with senior officials in the Ministry of Environment and Water and will soon be signed off by the minister, Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad. A draft has been ready since 2007, but the Cabinet reshuffle in February - in which Mr Fahad was appointed minister - meant a review of all policies and practices at the ministry.
Once the document is signed, government officials will have the right to confiscate animals that are being abused. The most severe punishment, at least one year's jail and a fine of no less than Dh5,000, has been set for serious abuse, according to a draft of the document, obtained by The National. Penalties will also be introduced for people who abandon their pets, while it will prohibit public exhibitions, competitions or shows of animals without written permission from the ministry or local authorities.
The law also applies to pet shops, farms, stables and other premises where animals are kept. These establishments will be asked to keep records of their animals and any treatment that has been given. The sale of sick or emaciated animals will be forbidden. The law states that animals in captivity must be cared for by an adequate number of competent staff. Other animal welfare issues are included, such as providing animals with clean, ventilated cages and pens, making sure they have sufficient room, adequate food and continuous access to fresh water.
Animal research will be more strictly regulated, with researchers required to specify the scientific objectives of their experiments. Animal welfare organisations and veterinary doctors have praised the draft law. "I think it is great and I hope they will reinforce it. It is long overdue," said Jackie Radcliff, who runs K9 Friends, a non-profit dog rescue organisation. However, further improvements were needed, she said.
"I would like to know what happens to the animals once they have been confiscated. In the United Kingdom, for example, a person who abuses an animal is banned from owning it," she said. Dr Ullrich Wernery, the scientific director at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in Dubai, said he hoped the new law would put an end to the mistreatment of animals. In one recent case, Dr Wernery said he saw horses tethered in desert camps in high temperatures. The animals should spend the summer in air-conditioned stables, he said.
At another camp, a young camel was living in a confined space and barely able to move. In each case, he said, the caretakers just shrugged when they were asked about the conditions. "You ask about the animals, but it is not just them that have to be outside in the heat," he was told by one man who refused to give his name. "It is us, too." @Email:[e-mail]