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Animals & Wildlife Kuwait News

All the animals left to die *updated*

A few days ago someone in the forum mentioned that he passed by the animal section of the Friday market and found it closed. I figured that’s great news, they finally did something about the animal cruelty that was taking place there.

Turns out I was very wrong. Today I found out that what really happened was the municipality shutdown all the shops by force and not because of animal cruelty but because of rent issues. Not only that but since the shops were closed down 2 weeks ago they haven’t been allowed to reopen and all the animals were left inside to die!

…the business owners are helpless as the animals howl and cry for food, with every passing day the stench of death growing ever stronger…

…All the animals are inside the stalls, and most of them have died due to lack of water, food and air. These animals have been in cages within the stalls for 15 days and they have not seen any light, nor eaten anything…

Instead of making things better, they killed all the animals. Fantastic. Here is the link to the article on Al Watan Daily. [Link]

Update: A friend of mine passed by the Friday market with his wife today after reading the post to see what they could do. They spoke to a few owners and it turns out the Al Watan Daily’s story is not true. Here is the correct information:

– The municipality did shutdown the shops

– The shop owners ARE allowed to open the shop to clean, feed and air their animals

– Some shop owners were neglecting their animals and it’s NOT the municipality that’s stopping them. Some owners are just insensitive and are just leaving their animals to die

Basically unlike what Al Watan Daily reported, the municipality isn’t stopping any shop owner from taking care of the animals. I don’t know why a leading English newspaper would print misinformation like that. In any case animals are still being left to die by some shop owners who should be fined or prosecuted. For more details you can visit my friends blog where they have more information and pictures [Link]

67 replies on “All the animals left to die *updated*”

What has religion got to do with this? A sick person is a sick person regardless, I was looking forward for a nice healthy discussion about this. But i’m sorry to say, since religion is now involved – this has the potential to get ugly.

I urge everyone to not let their attention shift from this disturbing issue, being the cruelty of animals.

The damage has been done now, however everyone should think and discuss how something like this should be avoided in the future.

oh sorry – the comment about religion was removed, good.

Back to this disturbing act of cruelty. This must stop, this is very serious and can truly have a negative impact on the next generation. The government needs to wake up and stop this.

The shame is that “No one” in the ministry will take responsibility for this shameful horrible decision that led to this unspeakable heinous act.

Thanks Mark, –

I just have a mixture of feelings, see I love Kuwait, I grew up there, but something like this just puts me off the place. This really gets my blood boiling – I am very upset.

I am always there to defend Kuwait with anyone that has any negative thoughts about the place – but something like this really makes it hard. I have no response to this.

I am speechless, would love to talk to someone from the municipalty and see what their justification is for this.

@JENO – What, the same ministry that has allowed this disgusting trade to continue for years?
The same ministry that signed up to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) in 2002?

Surely not!

While I absolutely reject censorship, I will nonetheless add an update which should help make most of you feel better. I just called a store owner there who I’ve dealt with extensively with my salt water fish tank. The good news is that all stall owners sneak in at night to feed the animals. The bad news is that the animals are there in total darkness, and sanitary conditions are even worse than usual (if you can imagine that).

On the religious part if it had any say in it, it’s actually against it to be cruel to animals. This is a clear cut case of animal cruelty. Kuwait gets worse day by day, freedoms of humans AND animals are diminishing, we’re in a downward spiral for the worse. Absolutely sickening, and they’re ALREADY paying, but some people just don’t stop being greedy.

Anna, thanks for the info and a commend you for calling your source to get some sort of update on this.

As for censorship, I also reject this – and I cannot speak for Mark – but I alos think he’s not in favour of it – a number of posts and comments on this blog tell you that.

You did however mention religion – a highly sensitive subject that will shift everyones attention from the original story. The subject of religion can ofcourse be discussed, but at another place and another time.

For the record, I understand that Islam is against animal cruelty. Sadly many people don’t adhere to that.

As for the condition of the animals, I wouldn’t give a big sigh of relief just yet. Yes they are not starving, but they are in dark, extremely humid, and highly unsanitary conditions. Much worse than normal, and a great breeding ground for disease. I specifically asked my source about the stench of death reported in the newspaper, and he said its because they can’t clean and flush out the stores with water. My source also told me that his fish are dying because he has been unable to flush his tanks.

This in not a case of whats done is done, now lets find the culprit. These poor animals can still be saved. Someone with wasta please do something!

Kuwait Municipality, one of the most corrupt institutions in existence, and the amount of stupidity presented in there decisions is staggering.

Those people, plain & simple are disgusting bastards, heartless & uncivilized in the most aggressive of manners. All of this for money, their gonna f***ing burn. Definitely. Karma’s gonna bite them all in the ass sooner or later.

Human rights are behind in this country; the journey is even longer with regards to añimal rights.
I wish the legal status in this country reflected the culture of it’s inhabitants; Kuwaitis have been of high awareness since the 1950’s! Surprisingly, the law still didn’t catch up….
Puzzling contrast!

I am shivering with anger!!! i mean is this pure stupidity on their part?! or do they just love torturing innocent animals?! seriously, i hate reading these stories because i get so mad and helpless! I think we should all go there and protest, if anyone has any better ideas please speak up.

May the people who did this, Go to Hell.

im serious, how dumb can people be.
if this has to do with religion, then people would know in religon its wrong to be cruel to animals.

while if you look at law, there is civil law, animal law, and ideological law.
which it seems they haven’t followed.

So they closed them down by force and took their keys away?
And the owners just stood there for 15 days and watched all the animals die?

Why am I finding this nonsense hard to believe?

If I had animals worth thousands of dinars in one of these shops I’d break them out, not do nothing and watch them die, then complain about it.

Unnamed municipality ‘inspector’ demands second rent payment and he has the power to close off animal stalls, killing them in the process.

This is one example. And it’s beginning to happen everywhere in Kuwait. Extortion.

Someone find out who exactly this individual is and have all the bloggers print his details cause sure as shit Adel Safar and this team prolly wont do anything anyways.

Is someone like PAWS going to advocate for justice or follow up on this, or are they too busy organising events? We need a proper animal welfare organization in Kuait. Not that it would have any influence on public policy, seeing as there is NO policy here

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS! THIS IS SUCH BULL! FUCK THIS RETARDED MUNICIPALITY. I CANT BELIEVE THIS. ANIMALS ARE LIVING AS HUMANS ARE. I HATE THIS COUNTRY.

the only institution with power in kuwait is the american embassay, let that lady ambasador make a scene next day they will feed all the animals

from maid abuse to mishref sewage problem to animal cruelty… i will give it a couple of days and this will fade away like nothing happened.. just like any other “news”… /yawns

once again, this is more fuel to my fire that is called I Hate Kuwait. I can’t wait to see how this place turns out to be in 20 years from now when the old, degenerate, ignorant, tribal generation goes to hell and the fresh, modern, educated generation takes over. god have mercy on those poor dead souls.

Thanks Mark for your constant awareness.

Dogs, Cats, Fishes, Rabbits, Chickens, Turtles, Birds & Others are inside all of these small hot shops.
Guys we need to do something.
What is the ministry that it “should be responsible” ??

Can’t somebody with some pull do something about this? This is absolutely ridiculous. If the Municipality doesn’t have anything better to do than kill trees and animals, they shouldn’t do anything at all. This is simply extortion and murder, there’s no other way around it.
If somebody has wasta to do something about this, please do something. Fast.

Did it not make sense to anyone else that these shops were closed down because of “rent” issues? What kind of rent issues, did all of the shops fail to pay rent, because they all seem to be shut down?

Something else seems to be the underlying cause here.

Seems a bit fishy.

It amazes me what papers do for a shocking story. This is not an animal friendly market, but what the paper reported is – unfortunately – typical of tabloids… Al Watan is supposed to be a serious paper.

1. Anna | November 2nd, 2009 at 11:55 am
OM MY GOD! I’m even ashamed of living in this country! Sick to my stomach.
18. TATA | November 2nd, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Human rights are behind in this country; the journey is even longer with regards to añimal rights.

ASSHOLES

the 2 mentioned examples above representing those kind of peaple who are waiting for any unbelievable news about kuwait to express their hatred.

E7na nagseen araf y3ni 3shan they makeup araf of their own!?

I was wailing about this over lunch when i was told that the story was not true and if for example they had to shut down its rent related and all they have to do is pay the rent and voila they can resume business as usual fa it’s also the shop owners there who are to blame if the story infact was true…

Effff

im a huge animal lover. i sure hope nothing bad gets to those helpless poor animals. but remember, those animals were there to be sold. so surely, their owners wouldnt just leave them to die in vain. not realistic.
this whole story seems fishy to me & exaggerated. i sure hope it is really.

i can see that when ppl get angry & emotional, other issues come out. like, religious, racist, & nationality segregation. now, ppl, whats animal abuse, (or whatever horrible thing happens here) has to do with Kuwait itself or its ppl? dont be so narrow-minded. these things happens everywhere. & they should not be a representation of all the nation, except for those who did those actions. cuz then, u’d have to hate the whole world, cuz these things happen in it too. but hate is not the answer. love is. love others & u will be loved back.
u wont gain anything by hate except bad health & a poor heart.

& btw, im a different ‘Just’ 🙂

(Never knew there was someone else sharing my name 🙂 )

PETA can’t do anything about anything. Do your really believe that the meat you eat in Kuwait is “halal”? Part of this was filmed in Kuwait: https://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=live_transport3&Player=wm

As for the situation at the Friday Market – This is really nothing that a blow torch and a midnight raid won’t solve… I’m in.

Kuwait’s Municipality should be closed permanently and its tasks delegated to responsible private companies with no conflict of interest that a government entity can audit. Uneducated hooligans on government payroll!

Al-Watan newspaper is slowly becoming Kuwait’s leading TABLOID newspaper. Where half the shit that’s in their newspapers is as good as not true.

story + Drama + more drama = Al Watan news reporting

Ok we all know how cruel this is , but we cant just sit back in shock and complain we have to do something about this ans ASAP …i suggest we get a group together and find a way to talk to the shop owners , maybe we can buy some of the animals at a low price , this way the shop owner gets some money out of it to pay rent and we get to save the animals…each person can see how many or what he or she can foster or adopt. …This is just a suggestion ..what do u guys think ?

I thought PAWS was a recognised organization in Kuwait with enough heavy weights backing them up includuing the US Embassy. Why cant they step in and use the judicial system of this country and file a suit aginst the dumb fucks who are responsibe for this attrocity?? Nothing better makes a person get up and take notice than a legal notice from a court of law. Last time I checked this was a democratic country with an independent judicary. So why not use it. Hell file a suit against the owners themselves for trading their wares in such filthy, unhygenic ,unsanitary and a cruel way. Who knows we all may actually be alive to witness a landmark ruling against the municipality and these so called animal traders. May be a petion can be made in court that PAWS be given legal authority to oversee these animal markets with proper guide lines. Anything is possible if enough people with enough clout gather and shout 😉

@ post 50:

How is this the municipality’s fault? The municipality (correct me if am wrong) has nothing to do with animal rights or animal control. From what was posted and what I read, shop owners are able to get into their stores so blame should fall on the shop owners for not taking all necessary action to ensure their animals lived or were removed

Don’t blame the municipality for something that is not in their scope of work, if anything, blame the government for not having a proper animal rights and monitoring organization.

Lastly, did PAWs report anything about this? It would seem that they should of been one of the first organizations to publicize this as they have some affiliation with Al-Dohama pet clinic (every time I’ve rescued a cat/dog, they have asked me to drop it off to the vets there), which is directly opposite of where this happened.

yes i agree something should be done by the judical system , but then again that might take months if not longer and the animals are not going to last that long …something should be done Yesterday .

@ 47 – JUST:
Yes, these things do happen in other parts of the world. BUT, in most developed countries who are signatories to international conventions on animal welfare, the market wouldn’t be allowed. There are rules that are followed relating to the space each animal must have. Rules that ensure the cleanliness and medical condition of the animals. Rules that make it a criminal offence to trade in wild animals. Rules that are COMPLETELY IGNORED by the Kuwaiti authorities.
Likewise the international conventions that Kuwait has signed up to relating to the shooting of migratory birds. Just get out and see how many birds are shot as they migrate over Kuwait. I personally have seen “HUNDREDS” shot around Jahra by idiots with shotguns. I have also seen police patrols completely ignore it.

I only have this question,
as for the Halal slaughtering metode who is done for the humane consideration of the animal.. I would very much say that though we dont slaugter this way in EU, we do treat our animals better. So what is the point of Halal when you torture the animal before the last mercy ?

I spend alot of time in the Friday marked, and as much I love animal.. I would be happy if the goverment would bulldoze the place ones for all. Without the animals of course.
Build a new one and make sure the animals best interest is at large.

Mark my friend, I’ve been following your blog since 2005 and while you do raise key important issues in Kuwait, which is tremendously appreciated, your blog still seems to attract comments rather than actions. Is there a way you could use this audience to seriously tackle and hopefully solve some of the problems that you post about? From my reading of the comments to your posts, I can tell there is a lot of civilized and educated nationals and expats that I believe have the will and power. Why don’t you consider forming an official Human/Animal/Social Rights group that can formally address these issues instead of just publicizing for them?

I went there few hours ago, and the situation is:
All the shops are closed
4 or 5 from the ex employee are sitting there
I asked them about how do they feed the animals inside, and they answered with:
NO WE CANT, The shops are closed by the municipality and there is a sticker attached on each shop’s door and they cant open the door and they cant remove those stickers.
All the dogs inside are whining and barking from being without a food, water, air and also without light.
Its just a big MESS

Exile, why ask this of Mark? Why not do so something yourself, instead of just “comments rather than actions”.

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