Treatment of livestock was ‘unfair, arbitrary’: Qatari owner

A Qatari owner of a herd of camels, sheep and goats, has recounted the ordeal he and his herd had to endure on account of the decision of the Saudi Arabian authorities to ‘deport’ all Qatari-owned herds, as part of the economic blockade enforced on Doha.
His words reflect the anguish, pain and shock: “I am a Qatari citizen owning a herd of camels, sheep and goats in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where we used to graze and raise them. The plight caused by the arbitrary departure of my herd affected not only me, but many other Qatari citizens owning camels, sheep and goats, they were also treated in the same primitive manner by the Saudi authorities.
“These camels, sheep and goats were our only source of life and income; we heavily relied on their dairy production.”
He recalled it was a normal Sunday “when we were surprisingly informed of the Saudi authorities’ decision to ‘deport’ all Qatari-owned camel and goats out of the Kingdom. We were given a period of 24 hours to take our thousands of camel and goats out of the Kingdom via land.”
After learning about the decision, “we raced to move our animal back to Qatar”, the citizen said.
“However, we were shocked and horrified to learn that the Saudi authorities had already gathered all of our herds in one place near the Saudi-Qatari border. It was a scene that could be described – at the least – as and lacking any animal rights.”
It was very crowded with more than 10,000 camels and about 2,000 goats all in one place, he said, adding that the Saudi authorities used “electric lighters and truncheons” and also “bumped the animals with cars” to force them to move quickly.
That led to a stampede-like situation among the camels and goats as they collided with each other, while also making it hard for the owners to identify their animals.
 “That treatment also led to the death of a large number of camels and goats. Water shortage and high temperature also played a significant role in that episode of animal torture,” the citizen pointed out.
“This is unfair and unprecedented, and such arbitrary handling of our animals has deprived us of our livelihood and caused us heavy financial losses. It is an assault on the rights of humans first, and of animals,” he stressed. “I express my strong condemnation of the unjust measures, which came as a kind of collective punishment for the Qatari people. If Saudi Arabia has severed its diplomatic relations with Qatar, this does not mean that it should violate the rights of Qatari citizens. It is a bad mixture of politics and people’s lives. I reserve my right to claim financial and moral compensation.”

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