Category: Animals & Wildlife

Yesterday there was a very depressing article in Kuwait Times about how dogs are being poisoned to death in Kuwait deliberately. The poison isn’t killing only stray dogs but it’s also killing peoples pets since the poison is being placed all around the parks without any warning to pet owners. Here are some excerpts from the article:

“After a walk in the local park, my dog began foaming at the mouth and shaking. I remembered that he had run towards something that had taken his interest in the park, and realized he had ingested poison,” recalls a French expatriate. “His legs were dragging on the way home and for once he was not pulling on the leash, but I did not realize what was wrong. By the time we realized it was too late, but there is no emergency animal hospital here so there was nothing I could do but watch him die,” she added.

“I cannot let my dog run freely around the park anymore because of this. I caught him eating a pellet of poisoned food, and luckily it was not enough to harm him,” said Khaldi. “Since they are unwilling to stop placing poison in the parks, I asked that they at least put up signs to warn pet owners. They even refused that, insisting that it would be too much effort to place a sign every time they planted poison.” Unknowing pet owners have suffered the consequences as a result. “My friend’s dog ate the poisoned food and died because of it. It’s not even humane euthanasia: the dog died over the period of an hour, foaming at the mouth. It is a slow, painful death.”

You can read the full article [Here]

I find this news extremely disturbing. I have a dog myself which I take to the park every so often but there is no way on earth I would take him again. The fact they’re placing poison in parks without any warning is very dangerous. How safe is it to come in contact with these poisons considering people have picnics there? I’m gonna end this rant with a video of a puppy being saved after being trapped in a pipe overnight. Hopefully someone from the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources watches it.

[YouTube]

Registration is now open for entry into the 2012 PAWS annual dog show. The show will take place in the beautiful gardens of the British Embassy on Friday March 9th from 11AM to 4PM. There will be stalls at the dog show selling a variety of merchandise, activities for the children, refreshment stalls and of course the main attraction will be the dog competition categories.

Full details can be found on the PAWS website and all competition categories are listed on the application form which can be downloaded from the website as well. Here is the [Link]

Investigations are currently ongoing in a case in which a group of friends claim that an enemy they were preparing to fight against almost released a large tiger at them. The alleged incident reportedly took place on Al-Blajat street in Salmiya where the 12 young men approached someone they had unfinished business with, and decided to settle their differences the old fashioned way.

Soon enough, the enemy was joined by a friend, who reportedly had an adult tiger sitting in the backseat of his car. The group opted to flee when the tiger’s owner threatened to release the wild beast at them. They reported the incident at Rumaithiya police station immediately afterwards. Investigators are working to confirm the allegations before further action is taken.

WTF? [Source]

This Saturday K’s PATH is organizing a fun event called Bark in the Park. There will be a dog show competition, funny races, fabulous vendors, children’s entertainment and a lot more.

Location: Mishref Fairgrounds
Date: Saturday, 21st of January, 2012
Time: 10:00am to 5:00pm

Entry Prices
Adults: KD5
Children 6 to 12: KD3
Children under 6: Free
Hound per competition: KD3
Family ticket: KD14 (Includes 2 adults, 2 kids)

For more information you can download their flyer [Here]

Three Kuwaitis killed a crocodile which had apparently sneaked out of a farm and strayed at night before it came face to face with them.

The two brothers and their friend were sitting near a camp just outside the capital Kuwait City when the two-metre reptile crawled slowly towards them.

“One of them who had a hunting rifle shot the crocodile as they were afraid it might attack them…the crocodile had apparently managed to sneak out of a nearby farm in Bar Al Abdali area,” Alanba daily said.

If someone makes a movie about a crocodile that goes on a rampage in Kuwait City I’d watch it. [Source]

Marine Conservation 2012 from john peaveler on Vimeo.

A short documentary about the current conditions of Kuwait’s marine ecosystem and the work that the Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and Their Habitat (K’S PATH) is doing to make a difference.

In summary, we’ve got a major pollution problem in Kuwait but we also have an organization like K’S PATH that’s taking action and trying to fix these issues. If you are an individual or social group you can join them in their clean up activities or if you represent a company you can also sponsor K’S PATH. Send an email to [email protected] for inquiries.

Pawsh is a new local online pet store that sells everything from food to toys for dogs, cats, birds and small pets. The website looks pretty good and is easy to navigate the different categories and find stuff. The prices also seem reasonable and they obviously deliver which is convenient. Check out the website [Here]

Thanks Rayboy

Update: Here is another link to another local online pet store called ePetome. This one also looks pretty good. [Link]

Another day another record. This time it’s for the most expensive camel in the world.

A camel named Bedour entered the Guinness Book of Records when it was purchased for 2 million dinars cash after the seller refused to take a cheque or ATM card during the Safat Camel Auction in Sulaibiya, reports Al-Shahid daily.

According to the seller, the camel is expensive because it’s unique and exceptionally beautiful, which makes it different from other camels and on par with camels the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his companions rode. He affirmed that this revelation is verifiable and has already been established. Therefore, the camel is worth the amount he collected from the purchase, the seller noted.

He reiterated that the value of the camel has nothing to do with quality of its meat, hyrax, milk or urine but its offspring and byproducts. He said the buyer will recoup the KD 2,000,000 with huge profit, stressing that mere onlookers were surprised that the camel had been sold for 2 million, which is almost enough to buy a private jet and way beyond the prices of latest automobiles.

He claimed the camel originates from camels the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his companions owned. He also said the buyer could insure the camel just like human beings, cars and houses, even though he refused to mention profit he made through the deal. [Source]

KD2,000,000 cash!

Thanks Tuan

Taken from K’s PATH John Peaveler’s Facebook page:

Flamingos massacred at the Abdaliya Nature Preserve after poachers forced their way in on Thursday, November 17th, 2011. Even our responding staff who come from a rural part of India where live can be brutal thought to write the word “crime” with the shotgun shells. You can see their look of disgust. We were able to save two, one uninjured and one with a broken leg. Now we will try to save them.

Not sure what kind of people who shoot Flamingos for fun but this is horrible. If you’re logged in to Facebook you can see the pictures and get more information [Here] For more information click [Here]

Thanks Rayboy

Yes it exists. If you’ve got a cat you can join the Kuwait Cats Club. [Link]

Found the above on the K’s PATH Facebook page. Didn’t know Kuwait had such a system before and not sure why they ever stopped it. [Link]

Update: A reader sent me another tag he has dating to 1986. Looks like the quality of the tags dropped a notch.

I previously posted about the collaboration between KOC and K’s PATH in regards to the stray dogs problem in Ahmadi. Well K’s PATH just uploaded the video above on this subject with the following description:

As many of you know, K’S PATH has been working on Animal Control in Ahmadi and as part of this program, we have been able to do some TNR for dogs into settings where we know they will be cared for. This has been an exciting program as it is the first of its kind in Kuwait. We thought we would share some of the joy that we experience.[YouTube]

If you want to find out more about K’s PATH visit their website [Here]

Pet Zone in Al-Rai recently got a dog tag machine. Actually it’s a pet tag machine but I got a tag for my dog. You get to choose a tag from a variety of shapes and colors and then you tell them what you want to print on the front and back. You also get to choose the font you want and then you get to watch your tag being made. It takes around 5 minutes and costs just KD2.

I ended up going with a pink tag for my male dog because they didn’t have this shape in any other color. Once they get a blue or black I’m going to go back and get another one made. If you don’t know where Pet Zone is click [Here]

Just over a year ago I got an email from Dhari Al-Gharabally from the Kuwait Oil Company telling me about a problem they had with stray dogs in Ahmadi and how they wanted to deal with this issue in a humane manner without causing any harm to the dogs. I put him in touch with K’s PATH and since then they’ve been working together solving the stray dogs issue.

Earlier today KOC released a video detailing their relationship with K’s PATH and how they collaborated together on this problem that faced the residents of Ahmadi. All I can say is that I wish there were more companies in Kuwait like KOC and that I’m also really glad we have an organization like K’s PATH to take care of animals in Kuwait.

The video is in Arabic but at around 2:50 into the video John Peaveler the co-founder of K’s PATH comes in and talks in English. [YouTube]

It seems to cut down on dog fights the ministry has banned certain dogs from being imported to Kuwait. I personally don’t think that’s the proper way to cut down on dog fights since people who want to fight dogs will fight dogs no matter what breed they are.