- Image Credit: Sankha Kar/Gulf News archive
- Sharjah Bird and Animal Market has come under the microscope following an undercover investigation by Gulf News. The picture is used for illustrative purposes only.
Dubai: Animal rights are a sensitive issue, especially as it raises very strong reactions. Gulf News has always championed the cause of animals and their need to be treated fairly, ethically and with respect.
However, our community of readers has been repeatedly raising the issue of the Sharjah Bird and Animal Market with us through emails, comments and social media posts, with many complaining about the poor conditions. We decided to follow up and seek some answers to the issues raised.
The Sharjah Bird and Animal Market has a rather notorious reputation. More than 500 Facebook users comprise the online group ‘Shut Down Sharjah Animal Market’ that protests against instances of animal cruelty there, and many UAE residents continue to express anger towards the facility’s callous actions after Gulf News published reports on the market readily selling illegal animals, a few months’ ago.
To examine whether the premises have undergone an overhaul, we went undercover to scout the facility.
Walking into the market’s building, we were hit with an acrid stench of animal waste, which instantly lowered our hopes of finding the center in a better state. The visit was at around 10am on a Ramadan week day, which explained the lack of visitors and few closed stores. A peek into these stores showed the animals residing in cages in dimly-lit rooms, with neither an open window for ventilation nor an air conditioner for cooling.
At the sight of visitors, several shop owners jumped up to usher us into their respective stores. A majority of the animals first presented were birds.
The same store displayed a falcon perched by the window.We asked a shopkeeper where we may be able to find something special to gift a friend for her upcoming birthday. He steered us into his store and pointed towards a pair of parrots. One, native to the Amazon, and the other, brought in from Nepal, appeared fit. The shop owner had even taught the Nepali parrot a few phrases in Hindi. He was frank about the origin of the birds and informed us that he has an agent that sources him these birds – we soon found out that every shopkeeper had their own agent whom they worked closely with.
“On sale for 5000 [dirhams],” said the owner.
After attempting to bargain with him, he explained that his agent, who brought the bird in from Pakistan, guaranteed him several more to come this season. He gestured to the breadth of the store and said in Urdu: “There will soon be a line of them. Come then. Maybe it’ll be less.”
As he grew more acquainted with us, he admitted that he didn’t want to sell us the bird as his leg was fractured.
To even present an unfit animal for a probable sale is a legal offence, according to Federal Law No. 16 of year 2007 ‘Respecting Animal Welfare’, Chapter 3, Article 4, Section 7.
Other shops were also less than attentive to the upkeep of their birds. While looking through a window of a store that was closed at the time, we observed a cage – no larger than a 30 gallon aquarium tank – that housed two grown male peacocks and three hens. This cramped situation caused visible discomfort, and is in clear violation of UAE law, which is the shop owner’s duty to ensure comfortable movement of animals. This is according to Federal Law No 16. Chapter 5, Article 4: ‘Free Movement of Animals’.
Wandering around another store, we found a cage of pigeons. Filled with several of them, the cage was evidently unclean as two dead pigeons lay in a corner, as the other pigeons moved around the cage. When this was brought to the shop owner’s attention, he remained fairly indifferent stating that, although he presented us animals from all ends of the store, he owns the right half of it and so was not responsible for disposing of the dead birds in the far left cage.
Animals of other species were found closer to the central courtyard of the facility. Domestic pets like dogs and cats were kept in cages here. Kittens appeared malnourished and scruffy, while dogs looked drowsy and ill. One particular store sold a husky. Although the canine can survive outside its familiar cold weather, adequate care is needed to ensure their wellbeing. Like the other shops, this, too, had no ventilation but had one fan, which was aimed directly at the store owner.
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via Sharjah Bird and Animal Market investigated | GulfNews.com.
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