Pitiable condition: Burgeoning market disregards well-being of animals

Inadequate laws lead to neglect; Pets are kept in cages where they are unable to move

RAWALPINDI: Amidst the old architectural structures and havelis of Rawalpindi, on Sardar Alam Khan Road, an increasing number of birds and animals struggle to move and eat in their small cages.

The road has seen a surge in bird sellers setting up shops since 2011, and now shops selling cats and dogs have also cropped up in market.

Due to being held in small cages, regardless of their sizes, the animals create a racket all day.

The birds, too, are kept in such small cages that they are unable to move or eat in them.

“Noise of birds and animals is disturbing for other shopkeepers and residents in nearby areas,” said Maqsood Khan, who runs a shop of electronic appliances in the market.



He added that these businesses started in 2011 with two shops and now, there were more than a dozen shops selling birds.

He said that in the last year or so the shopkeepers had also started selling animals in the market.

Muhammad Ali, an animal seller, said, “We have a license to sell birds and animals. We rear or purchase birds of different species to sell them in Rawalpindi.” He, along with his father, also sells dogs in the market. He said that they only sold domestic animals.

A senior official in Rawal Town Municipal Administration said that some shopkeepers were illegally conducting the business in the area.

He noted that the birds and animals were kept in very bad conditions in small cages in these shops.

The official further said that the district government or Punjab Wildlife Department had the authority to take action against the people involved in the business.

District Coordination Officer Sajid Zafar Daal was not immediately available for his comments.

Muhammad Anwar Maan, deputy director of Punjab Wildlife in Rawalpindi, when contacted, said
that his department had raided the market four to five times in the last few months.

He said that the department had taken legal action against the shopkeepers who had been selling animals and birds without licenses.

He said that the department had issued licenses for doing business for different species of birds.

However, about animals, specifically dogs, the deputy director said that these were pet animals and the owners could sell or gift the animals to anyone.

In response to a question about the conditions the animals were kept in, he said that his department could not take any legal action against shopkeepers who kept animals and birds in these conditions.

“We can only ask or request the shopkeepers to keep the birds and animals in spacious cages for their easy movement.

It is our moral duty to remind them about keeping the animals in better conditions,” Maan said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2016.