Dr Rabia bin Sabah Al Kuwari
After recent incidents of predatory animals reared in homes or farms escaping and causing alarm in the local communities, it has become necessary for the authorities to stop the practice of wild animals being kept in homes.
In Qatar, public interest requires that the Council of Ministers or the Shura Council stop sympathising with the owners of these predators, who act with impunity in the absence of any law dealing with this issue.
When any of these animals escapes, it causes panic and hysteria in the local community.
Most developed countries laws and procedures to deal with the escape of predators from homes or farms.
If an animal harms a person in a park or recreational area, especially one where national or social events are held, the responsible parties take immediate action and the owners of the animals may be penalised.
In Qatar, there have been cases of predators escaping from captivity. We cannot turn a blind eye to such cases just because there are no laws to deal with them. However, government officials don’t pay attention to such issues.
It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment, the municipality and the Ministry of Interior to take action in such cases.
We request government officials to make public the number of licences issued for keeping predators as pets. There could be many unlicensed animals as well, which would make matters worse.
The owners of some of these animals try to trade in them to earn a living, turning their hobby into a business. This may be a widespread practice in most countries in the region.
We do not have laws that protect members of the community from predatory animals, and what we get is just government data that appears only during a crisis.
