PET FESTIVAL SCALES BACK DOG SHOW AFTER BANNED BREEDS ARE ADVERTISED
▶ Pit bulls and molosser dogs were due to be displayed at the event until the mistake was spotted
A dog show has been scaled back after complaints that the event was advertising breeds that are banned in the UAE.
Dubai Pet Festival in Al Warsan had been widely advertising a free dog show on December 15 featuring molosser dogs and pit bulls.
Organisers were displaying the Dubai Municipality logo on advertising, and that from the International Bully Kennel Club, a respected organisation for responsible owners and breeders.
This year, a Government directive banned certain breeds in the UAE, including some of those due to be at the event.
The municipality is responsible for enforcing the changes in the law regarding ownership of these dogs.
Event management has since scaled back the dog show, although the festival will continue, and removed the kennel club logo.
Shree Nair, the festival’s promoter who also publishes the Pet ME magazine, said there was confusion about which breeds would be on display.
“Many people are spreading rumours and we have already cancelled this bully show,” Mr Nair said. “Last year we did this in Abu Dhabi and it was OK. We’ve had clearance from the municipality that if these breeds are already in the country, then they can come.”
Banned dogs in the UAE include all pit bulls, wolf-dog hybrids, American Staffordshire terriers, Japanese tosa, Brazilian and Argentinian mastiffs and crossbreeds of those dogs.
“We were not aware of this show,” said Lani Havaiki, vice president of the kennel club.
“We did participate last year with our official judge and representative. The promoter just put our logo on this year’s event poster without us knowing.
“As a registry, we lobby and fight breed specific legislation worldwide. It is the owners and not the breed that make these dogs bad.”
Volunteers who have worked at similar festivals in the UAE have concerns about allowing banned breeds into dog shows.
“I attended a pet show in Dubai a few years ago as a volunteer and handled competitors during pre-class judging, so we were working in the holding area,” said one woman, who did not want to be identified.
“When the class for the dangerous breeds came up, we were traumatised. All these young men arrived with their aggressive and baited dogs.
“It was nearly carnage and we left. It was just too frightening, with the men facing the dogs off against each other. The moral and ethical grounds are firmly against this sort of thing, and it is clearly against Federal Law 22.”
Other breeds added to the banned list this year include the American bully, rottweilers, pure or cross-bred, doberman pinschers, perro de presa canario and boxers.
“If there are owners who have the papers for these dogs and they are here legally, then it is not my responsibility,” said Mr Nair, who insists the show will otherwise continue as planned.
“We are no longer promoting these breeds, but anyone who has one of these dogs and wants to attend the festival can come unless we are told otherwise.”
Owners of pets on the banned list have are unsure of where they stand legally. In January, a federal law published in the Official Gazette stated that owners of dangerous animals had to register them with authorities within 30 days.
All dogs must now be licenced, registered and kept on a lead in public, with fines of up to Dh400,000 or a prison term of up to seven years for anyone found using a dangerous animal to attack another.
Sara Al Zaki helps with a centre finding new homes for banned breeds in Dubai, and said pet festivals attracted responsible owners and had a positive effect on improving animal welfare.
“These dog shows set standards for the rest of the country,” she said. “They are happening worldwide, so why shouldn’t they take place here?”
Banned breeds, once registered, cannot be adopted if the owner decides to give them up.
Owners of banned dogs say they are confused about what they have to do to comply with the law.
“No one really knows what the protocol or strategy is in regards to these breeds,” Ms Al Zaki said. “It is not fair the municipality should be confiscating these dogs, and I can see how it is contradictory to then have a bully show.
“Responsible owners visit these shows and they don’t want to get in trouble or risk having their dog taken away.”
Dubai Municipality did not respond to requests for comment.