Dog walking banned in Riyadh

Every single man knows: Walking a dog in the park is a 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 Wednesday in the capital, Riyadh, and authorities in the city say they will strictly enforce it — unlike previous bans in the cities of Mecca and Jiddah, which have been ignored and failed to stop pet 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.” The ban does not address women.

The Saudi-owned 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 edit from the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars and several religious police reports of pet owners harassing women and families.

Commission authorities often do not formally announce to the public new rules that they intend to implement. Officials from the commission and Riyadh city government could not be reached for comment Thursday, which is a weekend day in Saudi Arabia. The English-language Arab News reported on the ban Thursday.

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

Salesmen at a couple of Riyadh pet stores said Thursday they did not receive any 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 3-month-old collie, Joe.

Al-Abdullah, who also owns an 8-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.

They also often make attempts to plug the few holes in the strict gender segregation that innovations bring. In 2004, for example, they tried to ban cameras on cell phones, fearing that men and women would exchange pictures of each other — though the prohibition was quickly revoked.

There was no word whether commission authorities intend to expand the dog and cat ban beyond the capital.

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.

Although it has never been common to own pets in the Arab world, it’s becoming increasingly 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 are considered pests.

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

One of the Prophet Muhammad’s closest companions was given the name Abu Huraira, Arabic for “the father of the kitten,” because he always carried a kitten with him and a number of traditional stories of the prophet show Muhammad encouraging people to treat cats well.

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/WireStory?id=5490035&page=1

Things Cats Should Remember !!

Screaming at the can of food will not make it open by itself.

Leaping from the very top of the condo onto the curtain rod makes my human very annoyed with me. If I do it, I will get a time out, squirted with The Water Bottle Of Death and yelled at.

If I’m trying to hide behind the window shade so no one will see me (and I’m all clever for hiding behind the window shade, ya know) I shouldn’t let my tail hang down.

I must perfect a death stare to give my human every time I am disturbed.

If I vomit on the carpet after overeating yet again I must stand up and walk away without the slightest hint of a care. (thanks to Vic)

I should not assume the patio door is open when I race outside to chase leaves.

If I put a live mouse in my food bowl, I should not expect it to stay there until I get hungry.

The guinea pig likes to sleep once in a while. I will not watch him constantly.

If I bite the cactus, it will bite back.

I will not stand on the bathroom counter, stare down the hall, and growl at nothing (especially right after my human has finished watching “The X-Files”).

Television and computer screens do not exist to backlight my lovely tail.

No matter how dangly and attractive they are, my human’s earrings are not cat toys.

If I play ‘dead cat on the stairs’ while people are trying to bring in groceries or laundry, one of these days it will really come true.

My human is capable of cooking bacon and eggs without my help.

The cat food is already dead. I do not need to kill it by swatting bits of it all over the floor.

I am a carnivore. Potted plants are not meat.

I will never be able to walk on the ceiling, and staring up the wall and screaming at it will not bring it any closer.

It is not a good idea to try to lap up the powdered creamer before it all dissolves in the boiling coffee.

The goldfish likes living in water and should be allowed to remain in its bowl.

If my human wants to share her sandwich with me, she will give me a piece. She will notice if I start eating it from the other end.

I cannot leap through closed windows to catch birds outside.

The large dog in the back yard has lived there for six years. I will not freak out every time I see it.

If I must give a present to my human’s overnight guests, my toy mouse is much more socially acceptable than a live cockroach, even if it isn’t as tasty.

Even though I hear voices in my head, I do not have to answer them.

Check this : Things Dogs Should Remember