Dubai: Dubai dog owners are being kept on a tight leash as owners are fined weekly. Canine registrations have more than tripled in four years, prompting Dubai Municipality's Veterinary Services Section to bulk up their public awareness campaign by teaching dog owners new tricks.
Its team of inspectors have been issuing a fine a week - 55 in total in 2010 - to owners who fail to follow the municipality's dogs rules. Most of the fines are in Jumeirah Beach Residence, Mirdif, Marina and Umm Suqeim.
But many new Dubai residents are getting hot under the collar, albeit a dog collar, about the city's canine rules. They are confused about where dogs can and can't go, what they will be fined for and fear the city's anti-dog attitude has been getting worse.
Dog owner Daniel Burgin, a Springs resident, said tempers seemed to be reaching a boiling point for some, like when he saw an Emirati man pull off the side of the road to yell and threaten a resident whose dog was unleashed last month. Dog debates continue to rage on expat online forums, showing the frustration and confusion felt by both sides in the community.
However, Veterinary Services Senior Vet Health Inspector Adil Eltayeb Elbadri told XPRESS: "There is no dog ban in Dubai."
He set the record straight and advised that the dog rules in Dubai included: Dogs are banned from all beaches and public parks. The animal must be kept on a leash and/or an appropriate mask in public.
Owners have to clean up and dispose off the animal's waste when taking the dog outside.
All dogs must be vaccinated and registered and allowing a dog to become stray is also an offence. Failure to comply with these rules could result in fines from Dh200 to Dh500.
The rules were devised to accommodate all cultures and nationalities, Elbardi explained.
There is a separate set of rules for 16 dog breeds prohibited in apartments, and seven breeds of dogs banned from the UAE. Dogs can be impounded and owners can get a Dh5,000 fine for failing to prevent a dog from harming someone, or for owning a banned dog.
The municipality began clamping down on owners, as dog numbers increased.
Rising numbers
Dogs registrations have more than tripled in four years, with 8,243 in 2010 compared to 2,113 in 2006. The number of pet services have also shot up, Elbardi noted, with more than 40 pet food stores - mainly for dog food - compared to just four when he started the job in 1999.
The Veterinary Services Control Unit, manned by six men monitoring the dogs rules and an Emergency Team for aggressive dogs, issued fines for the first year in 2010 to owners who failed to comply with the rules. But Elbardi said the violations needed to stop, adding that a public awareness campaign would be launched at the Dubai Dog Show in March. Elbardi hoped dog violations would fall by 65 per cent this year.
Meanwhile dog confusion continues to reign in the community.
Dog owner May El-Labban is baffled by people who shy away from her pocket-sized Pekinese Pomeranian pooch.
"I have four to five-year-olds and 50 to 60-year-olds who will walk away or cross the road even from a dog as small as Chanel. She's so tiny and timid," the American-Lebanese sales manager said, confused about the anti-dog feeling.
Confusion has heightened since residents at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) recently received notices ordering the removal of their pets. A Shorooq Mirdif resident also faced the same situation late year despite the Shorooq community guide stating pets were allowed.
But problems began brewing back in 2008 when Dubai Properties forbade all pets, excluding goldfish, from JBR. This came as a surprise to many dog owners who had bought a property in the development. Other residents were relieved as they complained communal green areas were polluted with faeces, while the planters were stained with urine from dogs.
Nowhere to go
But many owners are fed up and are calling for a designated dog park.
"You can't take dogs anywhere here," said exasperated owner and Marina resident Ulrika Christoffersen of Sweden.
"No beaches, no parks, nowhere - I wouldn't bring a dog here." She was aghast at the thought of dogs being kept in apartments.
That was the harsh reality for Jane Gammage when she and her husband were affected by the financial crisis. The couple and their German Shepherd had to downsize from a villa to a two-bedroom apartment in the Greens this year.
"It was really difficult with Vinnie (dog's name) at first".
But when Gammage was forced to choose between giving up the pet or adapting, it was a simple decision - she now takes him for three walks a day to meet his needs.
"That means my whole lifestyle has changed. They (dogs) are a lot of work but I wouldn't be without Vinnie," she said.
Dubai dog owners who spoke to XPRESS rated the Green's gated community as one of the best areas to own a dog. The Greens man-made lake surrounded by greenery is viewed as an unofficial ‘dog park'.
"The facilities are great," resident Rania Elgebaily, said. "I used to take them to JBR, but it's just not possible now. I know people have moved from JBR to the Greens because it's dog-friendly," she said. However, other residents in gated communities feel restricted. Springs resident Gharam Al Areeny felt her four Yorkshire dogs were fenced in at her gated community because she didn't know where else she could take them without risking a fine.
Recently. dog rescue shelter K9 Friends issued a warning to all dog owners: "not everyone likes dogs and owners have to be considerate,'' committee member Dorothy Wainless said.
"If someone is walking toward me I deliberately go onto the road or walk around them to be considerate," she said.
Wainless advised other owners to follow her basic dog etiquette, hoping it would let sleeping dogs lie in Dubai.
Who let the dogs out
- The children's playground and park is off limits for dogs but they are allowed in other areas
- Unlike JBR, pet owners are allowed to walk their dogs in the area. However, dogs are prohibited in most buildings here
- The decision to allow dogs rests with the developer of the tower in question
Dog registrations have more than tripled over the past four years - 8,243 in 2010 compared to 2,113 in 2006. the number of pet food stores have also shot up from four in 1999 to more than 40
