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A leading supermarket chain in Bahrain has taken the unprecedented step of prohibiting the advertising of pet sales on its popular noticeboards as it seeks to protect the kingdom’s puppies and kittens from being exploited by unethical practices.
Alosra Supermarket made the decision to pull all pet sale ads from its branches recently after numerous complaints were raised by customers protesting against the frequent selling of animals amid the pinned public advertisements.
Bahrain has faced growing problems with local puppy farms in recent years, with dogs bred for sale under intense and inhumane conditions for the sole purpose of profit with little care for their welfare, as well as dealers importing popular breeds from abroad.
Unaware buyers often find the puppies they have purchased are diseased, face huge veterinary bills or the heartbreak of having to put the pet to sleep.
Danya Alalaiwat, marketing executive at Alosra, said: “We received a few complaints late last year from the public, arguing that selling animals was unethical and that the focus should be on adoption rather than purchasing them.
“Our management team held a meeting and decided pretty quickly that there were no guarantees that the animals being sold had been bred ethically and treated fairly, so we decided to prohibit further advertisements.
“We always want to be a responsible company and henceforth we will only support free pet adoptions, as we are focussed on finding homes for pets whose owners cannot look after them anymore, or have to leave the island and need a reliable family to take them in.”
Notices are still permitted on the boards, as long as the animals are being offered for adoption or relocation with no monetary exchange, while ‘lost and found’ notices are also allowed in order to reunite lost pets with their owners. Donations bins have also been placed to aid the feeding of rescued animals being cared for by charities.
The move has been met positively by the Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA), who continue to wage a tireless campaign against immoral practices and encourage the kingdom’s animal lovers to follow its ‘adopt, don’t shop’ policy.
Michelle Page, the society’s fundraising co-ordinator and events manager, explained: “The BSPCA is delighted that Alosra is taking animal welfare so seriously. Puppy farming is a huge problem and a lot of the time the general public aren’t aware of the poor conditions that the animals are cooped up in when they’re just used for breeding alone.
“Not only that, but most of the dogs bred in these farms don’t have any official papers, can carry diseases and are often very sick.
“With approximately 12,000 strays in the kingdom alone, we strongly implore families looking for a new pet to adopt a local dog rather than buy one, especially with the high risk that they could be from a puppy farm. We are happy that Alosra has taken steps towards raising awareness of the situation, and we hope other similar companies will follow suit.”
