Saudi Clerical Police Outlaw Sale of Cats, Dogs
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Saudi Arabia’s religious police, tasked with chiding women to cover themselves and ensuring men attend prayers, are turning to cats and dogs. The police have issued a decree banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence.
The prohibition on selling dogs may be less of a surprise, since many conservative Muslims despise dogs as unclean. But the cat ban befuddled many, since Islamic tradition holds that the Prophet Muhammad loved cats and even let a cat drink from his ablutions water before washing himself for prayers.
The decree which applies to the Red Sea port city of Jiddah and the holy city of Mecca bans the sale of cats and dogs because “some youths have been buying them and parading them in public,” according to a memo from the Municipal Affairs Ministry to Jiddah’s city government.
Pet owning is not common in the Arab world, though dogs are kept for hunting and guarding. However, in the past decades, owning dogs or cats has become a fashion statement among Saudis. Showing off a Doberman, pit bull, or fancy breed of feline has become a status symbol.
Some conservatives have decried the trend as a Western influence, like the fast food, shorts, jeans, and pop music that have become more common in the kingdom, which is ruled by the puritanical Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.
“One bad habit spreading among our youths is the acquisition of dogs and showing them off in the streets and malls,” wrote Aleetha al-Jihani Al-Madina newspaper. “There’s no doubt that such a matter makes one shudder.”
“Then what’s the point of dragging a dog behind you?” he added. “This is blind emulation of the infidels.”
The decree has not been enforced yet, according to several pet shop owners and veterinary clinics in Jiddah. It applies only to selling dogs and cats, and nothing indicated that the Muttawa would confiscate pets.
The ban distressed cat and dog lovers. Some have wondered why the religious police are focusing on this issue when the country has far more important challenges, such as terrorism and unemployment.
