oa Animal welfare in Qatar

This work sets out to find a theoretical framework for animal welfare that harmonizes Western philosophy and ideas with Islamic philosophy and Arab culture. The objective is to provide an effective platform for the lunching of legal instruments and educational programs for the humane treatment of animals in Qatar and in the GCC. The Western theories evaluated include those of J.S. Mill and Emmanuel Kant, which place animal welfare as an assessory of human life and freedom. These theories underpin the human rights and sustainable development approaches to environmental protection. We argue that both human rights and sustainable development frameworks are too deeply steeped in anthropology and the satisfaction of human needs and desires with limited emphasis on animals and the inanimate ecosystem on their own merits. Islam prohibits cruelty against animals. Both the Quran and Sunnah referred to the humane treatment of the animals. In the Quran, God said in The Bee surah:] (4) “and the grazing livestock He has created for you; in them is warmth and [numerous] benefits, … (6) And they carry your loads to a land you could not have reached except with difficulty to yourselves. Indeed, your Lord is Kind and Merciful. (7) And [He created] the horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and [as] adornment”. We argue that the Western and Islamic principles can be harmonized to serve as the foundation for animal welfare law and education in Qatar. We place the theoretical framework within international law as well as the comparative laws on animal welfare in selected countries. In international law, we look at the sources of international law as outlined in the ICJ Statute, particularly Custom and General Principles of law. A crucial aspect of this work is the mapping of the theoretical principles to the law and then to the practice in Qatar to establish consistency or gaps and suggest ways of improving the welfare of animals in Qatar. Based on our visits, pictures and findings A Summary of our recommendations are; 1- For Zoos; Animals such as lions and tigers are not used to the temperature here, the new zoo need years to finish, so there must be an arrangement to return the animals to their original countries or to other zoos. The new zoo must have a lot of trees to reduce the temperature. 2. For Veterinary Clinics; because the place is hired, it's not ideal for a complete veterinary center. We recommend that they get new premises or improve on the existing ones in order to have bigger capacity for animals. 3. For Animal Shops at Souq Waqif; we recommend shades for animals on display. Where animals are kept indoors, there must be working air-condition facilities. The sale of colored animals must be restricted. 4. For the Animal Welfare Department; We recommend bigger sized room for surgeries and also for animals that are on admission. The cages which are used are rusty and need to be replaced.