Wild About Animal Souq Article

The animal market at Souq Waqif has come in for criticism from visitors, who have pointed out that the area is unclean and a number of the animals appear to be suffering from health problems – especially in the summer heat.
With the arrival of summer bringing soaring temperatures and added humidity, a visit to the souq on an afternoon makes it immediately apparent that a large amount of the animals are suffering in the extreme conditions.
Small cages, packed full with up to around 20 rabbits in some cases, are being kept out in the open with their inhabitants obviously feeling the heat, even in the late afternoon hours. Small animals such as the rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and cats are visibly suffering, shaking and panting in their cages.
And many of the animals and birds on display do not have adequate water or food supplies in their cages.
As well as this, many of the animals were suffering from infections, with the cats and kittens having problems with their eyes, and many of the birds having wounds that appeared to be infected.
However, not all the shops are failing to attain acceptable standards and some are providing their animals with water. Many shopkeepers periodically spray them with water, but whether this causes the animals and birds to feel distressed or helps them to cool down is not entirely clear.
“There were some that were kept in worse conditions that others – not all were terrible,” said one visitor yesterday afternoon, “but I could never choose one of these animals to take home – they just don’t seem to be happy or healthy enough and being here makes you rethink wanting to buy a pet.”
Another visitor to the souq and animal welfare expert expressed her dissatisfaction at the conditions in the animal souq, describing them as “horrible.” “It should not be happening, and something should be done,” she said.
“But as long as people continue to visit the shops and buy the animals and birds on offer, there will be no reason for those running the shops to change anything,” said another visitor, “if they can get away with providing a low standard of healthcare, then they will continue to do so.”

Source: Gulf Times

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Personally I don't think anything will ever change until they bring in stricter regulations for keeping animals and bring in consequences for not following the regulations(and not just animals to sell, pets too).

I also think anyone working in the animal industry (pet shops, souq waqif, private collections) should be made to complete a basic animal care course. Even a couple of hours of being told about the dangers of dehydration and heat stroke in animals and giving them booklets and leaflets on how to spot any signs of illness. It wouldn't be difficult to explain to them WHY the animal needs water all the time and WHY not treating sick animals will cause long term problems with disease control.

Maybe one day things will change....