Job Discussion Forums

[007]

While surfing on the net I found this website about the treatment of horses in the Oman Royal Cavalry!!

http://www.beinoman.com/2007/09/omans-royal-cavalry.html

Are horses really ill-treated and suffering in his majesty�s Sultanate?
Anybody confirm or deny the above?

Thanks God that my horse, ANTAR, is living with prosperity under my protection, and is registered with UK animal society.

[veiledsentiments]

The Middle East has never been known for treating their animals particularly well. All of the countries seem full of feral cats and dogs (unless they have been shooting or poisoning them lately to get the population down). Look at the donkeys and horses of Cairo or Petra in Jordan - where the only care is provided by Western charities like the Brooks organization.

As always, the few purebreds on the stud farms and the winners of the horse races are well-cared for. All the rest of the horses are at the whim of their owners with no governmental oversight at all. There have just been a raft of stories out of Kuwait about the numbers of race horses killed or allowed to die and rot unburied each racing season.

Only Europe and North America seem to have laws governing this so that when people are found mistreating animals - and they are found all the time - at least they get fined or jailed and the animals are removed from their 'care.'

VS

[Duffy]

Its interesting that the site referrered to by "Bling" has been blocked by Omantel!!

Duffy

[helenl]

There is talk in UAE (at least in Dubai) about laws being enacted to protect animal welfare. Of course a law is only as useful if it is enforced and look at the traffic violations one encounters on ones daily commute in the emirates

However, they're working on that so maybe, eventually, the animal protection laws will be enforced too - but not in my lifetime probably.

[steppy-boy]

How a people treat their animals is an indication of their mentality. Humane societies generally treat their animals well, with laws and enforcement of these laws. I'll leave it up to the reader to draw the right conclusion

[Aliskander]

007 - unfortunately what the man Dale has said is 100% true (ignore the personal attacks and stay with the state of the horses). I have been to the royal stables on more than one occasion and have been horrified by what i saw. I also took a friend of mine (Duffy - you know who i mean!) and she was equally horrified. At the khareef festival they have horses on display with a 'carer' and yet many locals abuse these poor animals in front of the 'carer' and he does nothing. When i was there and witnessed it, i did step in and try and stop the abuse - i got a torrent of bad language and gestures thrown back at me. The abuse to the animals i have witnessed has included: open, septic weeping sores and cuts on their legs (Salalah Royal Cavalary), repeatedly being punched on the neck, having their manes and tails pulled, having rocks thrown at them, having stones and other things put up their noses and so on (Khareef festival).

However, as is normal in Oman, nothing will happen until the problem and abuse is recognised. Like most problems in Oman that will not happen for years and years unless we have more Dale Blackstocks who are willing to publish the situation and try and get international reaction.

[veiledsentiments]

[007]

[helenl]

Yes, I am aware the richest horse race in the world is in Dubai.

The Emirati government has started to take steps to (a) ban child camel jockeys and (b) return those already in country back to their families if possible. Tragically, a lot of these children can't even remember their family's name as they were so young when their families sold them into this slavery. Those who can't "go home" are being transferred to orphanages, often run by their home countries' charitable organizations. To date there has been no word of charging the "owners" of these children with slavery or human trafficking.

These steps have been taken because of bad international press.

The changes mentioned (long overdue - and in a culture that values children highly, should never have occurred) happened as a result of the bad publicity and a campaign by one of the United Nation's organizations (can't remember if it was UNICEF or another branch) to stop this practice.

I merely pointed out that they are starting to at least make some sort of effort in the area of animal welfare but also reckoned that no substantive changes will take place in my lifetime - but change has to start somewhere, even if in the beginning it's lip service only.

[Aliskander]

Isn't it so much easier to change a topic than face the problem it raises.

VS - no one is talking about anyone being superior or not. What is being talked about is the blatant and obvious cruelty being inflicted on animals in a country that sells an image of itself as being caring and kind - try telling that to the horses. What was being raised was if the Sultan knows about this or not? If he does (as it would seem) why has he not done anything about it? How would all the international friends of the Sultan and tour companies that are being lured here feel if they saw the reality behind the image?
As for camwel jockeys (NOT the original topic here) in Oman they changed to mechanical jockeys years ago. The only exceptions are in some cases in Dhofar where camel jockeys are the sons or nephews of the camel owners - it is their choice to race. They have never had foreign jockeys in Dhofar or (so i believe) in Oman.

It would be nice if for a change instead of changing topics or putting out a false image about things, people either faced and discussed the truth - or just didn't get invloved in the discussions unless they have anything relevant to say. This topic was staying on course until someone started to rant on about people claiming superiority (where???) etc - the topic was the state of the Sultans horses, and who knows or does not know about it.
Let's stay on topic, stop slating off other nationalities for no reason and with no relevance to the topic or just lock the thread.

[veiledsentiments]

As usual, Alik mis-reads and mis-interprets and preaches. The truth has been faced and quite intelligently discussed above. There are no "false images." Now if you are so worried personally about the horses and are in Oman, I suggest that you go and do something about changing it. Discuss it with your students, call the international humane society about starting a local chapter, call the palace, call the newspapers...

An ESL board is probably not the place.

And no, Oman has normally not used child jockeys unless it was the kids of the owner. The camel races that I saw in Oman had adult jockeys.

VS

[007]