I'm afraid I'll have to disagree to some extent. Most of the "owners" have nothing to do with their shops and leave them in the hands of shopkeepers who have no idea how to look after animals.
The majority of the pet shops are after money and that is all. The last time I visited, there was a 10-12 week old pitbull puppy with the most horrific case of mange for sale. There are 2 types of mange (one of which is extremely contagious to other animals & humans) and without a skin scraping it's hard to tell which type it had. However, this pup was having no medical treatment (I asked), was red raw & bleeding where it had scratched so much and just looked an absolute mess. They refused to let me take it to the vet and said it was for sale for QR2,000. The vet bill alone would be that amount and it was putting every animal in that Souq at risk.
There was also a 6 week old kitten that was nearly dead. I was told it wasn't for sale because it was dying so I offered to take it to the vet to be treated or euthanised. The shopkeeper went to ask the shop owner if I could take the kitten and suddenly the price was QR500. Despite the fact they had told me it was going to die.
There are hundreds more stories like this I could tell but at the end of the day - they just don't care about the animals. All they want is money.
The most basics of animal husbandry are not followed so I doubt they are doing everything within their means to look after the animals. Very rarely does a cat have a litter tray despite the fact that most shops sell them. Very few of the animals have water - the most basic of animal needs. Dead animals are not always removed from cages with others and there is disease and illness throughout all the shops.
But until the legislation changes, why should they go out of their way to make the animals more comfortable?
I'm afraid I'll have to disagree to some extent. Most of the "owners" have nothing to do with their shops and leave them in the hands of shopkeepers who have no idea how to look after animals.
The majority of the pet shops are after money and that is all. The last time I visited, there was a 10-12 week old pitbull puppy with the most horrific case of mange for sale. There are 2 types of mange (one of which is extremely contagious to other animals & humans) and without a skin scraping it's hard to tell which type it had. However, this pup was having no medical treatment (I asked), was red raw & bleeding where it had scratched so much and just looked an absolute mess. They refused to let me take it to the vet and said it was for sale for QR2,000. The vet bill alone would be that amount and it was putting every animal in that Souq at risk.
There was also a 6 week old kitten that was nearly dead. I was told it wasn't for sale because it was dying so I offered to take it to the vet to be treated or euthanised. The shopkeeper went to ask the shop owner if I could take the kitten and suddenly the price was QR500. Despite the fact they had told me it was going to die.
There are hundreds more stories like this I could tell but at the end of the day - they just don't care about the animals. All they want is money.
The most basics of animal husbandry are not followed so I doubt they are doing everything within their means to look after the animals. Very rarely does a cat have a litter tray despite the fact that most shops sell them. Very few of the animals have water - the most basic of animal needs. Dead animals are not always removed from cages with others and there is disease and illness throughout all the shops.
But until the legislation changes, why should they go out of their way to make the animals more comfortable?