RIYADH, 29 October 2007 — Although cats are popular house pets in Saudi Arabia, the same cannot be said of dogs. Viewed by many Muslims as unclean, the primary purpose of dogs in the Kingdom is to serve as guards. Al-Riyadh daily reported recently that a police patrol was called in to rescue a university professor and his family who were unable to leave their house for a planned weekend getaway after a neighbor’s guard dog abandoned his post and decided to “protect” their house and prevented them from leaving. As the family tried to get into their car, the menacing canine rushed at them, forcing them to flee back into the safety of their house. The police were called to chase away the animal. Not trained to deal with canines, the officers who arrived at the scene decided it would be wiser to contact the owner of the dog. Once the owner had locked up his dog, police issued him a warning against letting the dog roam about freely.
Arrested for Singing on Mosque Loud Speakers
RIYADH, 29 October 2007 — Police arrested two boys who misused the loud speaker at a mosque in western Riyadh, according to a report in Al-Watan yesterday. The boys, aged 15 and 13, had managed to enter the mosque through an unlocked door while no mosque officials were around. They switched on the loudspeaker and began singing Western tunes. Shocked by the desecration of the mosque, residents in nearby houses called the police who arrived and arrested the two.