PLANS to set up Bahrain’s first public pet park for stray dogs in Askar have been suspended indefinitely.
The MPs believe that the BD5.45 million bill to build the facility was too high – so the project has been struck off the 2023-2024 national state budget.
As originally envisaged, the pet park built over 40,000sqm would have featured green spaces and buildings with an estimated 15,000sqm set aside to house 5,000 dogs.
It was also expected to include a museum highlighting the history of dogs in Bahrain, celebrating the Saluki breed.
The project could be back on the drawing board – if, and when, MPs and Shura Council members give it the go-ahead.
Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry’s Agriculture and Marine Resources vet clinics and disease control section chief Dr Abbas Al Hayki said in March this year that around 4,000 dogs had been captured and more than 2,000 neutered since 2017.
The GDN has highlighted numerous incidents of issues involving strays causing concern and alarm in village communities, as well as being ill-treated and killed by vigilantes.
In May 2021, the government approved plans to export stray dogs, following a Northern Municipal Council proposal, but the problem has proved too challenging to solve to date.
And, new legislation, which controversially classifies dogs as ‘dangerous animals’, has not yet arrived in Parliament despite a constitutional move on the government to redraft it into a proper law.
The ministry has urged Parliament’s public utilities and environment affairs committee to have a rethink, asserting that dogs are not ‘fierce by nature’.
Defending the MPs’ objection, Parliament’s public utilities and environment affairs committee chairman Bader Al Tamimi told the GDN that the project was “lavish” and had no proper financial projection.
“Spending nearly BD5m on such a project is a waste of public money which could be directed towards housing, medical, educational and social facilities.”
He said members of the current Parliament don’t share the same enthusiasm for the pet park, and the government can negotiate with MPs elected in 2026.
Giving specifics, he said: “For example, we would need to spend BD3 on each dog for treatment, follow-up, feeding and security. This excludes other costs.”
Meanwhile, Muharraq Municipal Council public relations head and National Initiative for Animal Welfare founder Musab Al Shaikh agreed with the MPs.
Mr Al Shaikh
However, he said that Parliament should come up with something completely different.
“The land allocated for the park should be left open for the dogs to roam in freely, rather than build structures there.
“That’s of course on the condition that there is controlled breeding, the dogs are fed and taken care of.
“It is not an amusement park for humans and should be treated as a sanctuary for animals. Birds and cats don’t need much space, the problem is with finding enough space for the number of stray dogs.
“The park concept needs to be revised. A balanced approach is needed, if any budget is to be secured from Parliament.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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