[ad_1]
KHOBAR: Dog owners in Saudi Arabia can now enjoy a cup of coffee alongside their beloved pets at a new café, a first in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
In Islam, dogs are considered unclean animals, unlike cats, and are generally banned in public places in Saudi Arabia.
But The Barking Lot, which opened in June in the coastal city of Khobar, has delighted animal lovers in a country where there are few places to take pets away from home.
The country’s once notorious religious police used to ban pet walks, saying men used it as a means of passing women.
But the ban was widely circumvented, and pets are becoming increasingly common.
Animal shelters have sprung up in various cities.
The adoption of stray dogs has become more popular in the rapidly modernizing kingdom, which has undergone radical changes as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030” plan.
Barking Lot’s Kuwaiti owner Dalal Ahmed said he got the idea during a previous visit to the kingdom.
“I came to Saudi Arabia to visit my dog, but they did not allow me to walk on the beach with him,” he told AFP.
“I was very sad and decided to help by opening a cafeteria for people who have dogs, and even for those who do not.”
Young men and women meet in the cafe with dogs of all sizes.
Some pets playfully frolic, while others sit on their owners’ laps or wait patiently at the counter while their keepers order drinks.
In one section, dogs are treated with washes and dryers as part of the grooming services offered.
“The idea for this cafe is very new,” said Johara, a Saudi national. “It’s a different place where dogs can come and meet other dogs.”
For Nawaf, also from Saudi Arabia, it was the first time he visited the cafe, which he described as “beautiful.”
“I came here to play with the dogs, who now have a cafe for them for the first time in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
