Sat, Aug 02, 2008 page6

• Saudi Arabia bans sale of dogs, cats in Riyadh

  IN THE DOGHOUSE Conservative Saudis view the owning of pets as a sign of corrupting Western influence, as with fast food, shorts, jeans and pop music

  • AP
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  Every single man knows: Walking a dog in the park equals sure babe magnet. Saudi Arabia’s Islamic religious police, in their zeal to keep the sexes apart, want to make sure the technique doesn’t catch on here.
  
  

  The solution: Ban selling dogs and cats as pets, as well as walking them in public.
  
  

  The prohibition went into effect on Wednesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and authorities in the city say they will strictly enforce it — unlike previous such bans in the cities of Mecca and Jiddah, which have been ignored and failed to stop sales.
  
  

  Violators found outside with their pets will have their beloved poodles and other furry companions confiscated by agents of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the official name of the religious police, tasked with enforcing Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic code.
  
  

  The commission’s general manager, Othman al-Othman, said the ban was ordered because of what he called “the rising of phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families” as well as “violating proper behavior in public squares and malls.”
  
  

  “If a man is caught with a pet, the pet will be immediately confiscated and the man will be forced to sign a document pledging not to repeat the act,” al-Othman told the Al-Hayat newspaper. “If he does, he will be referred to authorities.”
  
  

  Al-Hayat announced the ban in its Wednesday edition, saying it was ordered by the acting governor of Riyadh province, Prince Sattam, based on an edict from the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars.
  
  

  So far, the new prohibition did not appear to have any effect in Riyadh. It’s extremely rare, anyway, to see anyone walking a dog — much less carrying a cat in public — in the capital, despite the authorities’ claims of flirtatious young men luring girls with their pets in malls.
  
  

  Salesmen at a couple of Riyadh pet stores on Thursday said they did not receive any official orders from the commission banning the sale of pets. Cats and dogs were still on display.
  
  

  “I didn’t hear of the ban,” said Yasser al-Abdullah, a 28-year-old Saudi nurse, who was at one pet store with his three-month-old collie, Joe.
  
  

  Al-Abdullah, who also owns an eight-month-old Labrador, said a couple of Western friends had been told to get off the streets by the religious police for walking their dogs.
  
  

  “I won’t allow the commission to take my dogs from me,” he said.
  
  

  The religious police prowl streets and malls throughout the kingdom, ensuring unmarried men and women do not mix, confronting women they feel are not properly covered or urging men to go to prayers.
  
  

  The prohibition may be more of an attempt to curb the owning of pets, which conservative Saudis view as a sign of corrupting Western influence, like the fast food, shorts, jeans and pop music that have become more common in the kingdom.
  
  

  Pet owning has never been common in the Arab world, though it is increasingly becoming fashionable among the upper class in Saudi Arabia and other countries such as Egypt.
  
  

  In Islamic tradition, dogs are shunned as unclean and dangerous, though they are kept for hunting and guarding. In large cities around the Middle East, stray dogs often wander the streets and are considered pests.
  
  

  The ban on cats is more puzzling, since there’s no similar disdain for them in Islamic tradition.
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