Tonight we went to dinner with some Embassy people and afterwards, we walked through the Souks. The souk area of town is basically a bunch of open-air stores with rugs, spices, clothes, jewelry...and animals. This is the part that upset me. They had rabbits, birds, chicks, fish, kittens and puppies. All of the animals looked like they were cared for properly except for the dogs. The dogs were all sleeping, it was 100 degrees, they had no food or water, were in tiny cages and all of their bones were showing. There were at least 10-15 of them and my heart broke. There was one little guy who probably should have weighed around 15 pounds and weighed around 4. His little ribs were showing and he was barely breathing. We wanted to buy him and save him, but they were charging 1000 riyal...which is around $350. We just don't have the money to spend. It breaks my heart. These animals are dying and the "caretakers" don't give a shit. I wish I knew some people in PETA to come and steal them. It's cruel, heartbreaking and there's not a damn thing I can do unless I had deep pockets because once we bought them, it would cost ten times that getting them back to health. There's nothing anyone can do, but I wanted to vent. AND if anyone comes here and has extra cash, adopt a dog from the souk-bastards. I am never going there again. Ever. If any of you come to visit, we will NOT be going to the souks. We will get your spices at the grocery. That is all.
