Camel owners fined for performing cosmetic surgery on their animals

JEDDAH: Camel owners in Saudi Arabia have been fined for performing cosmetic surgery on their animals to make them look more beautiful.
The owners were punished after subjecting the camels to improper lip augmentation and “injecting them with harmful substances to change their form,” the Saudi Press Agency.
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture issued fines to five people from across the Kingdom amounting to SR67,000 ($18,000) for violating animal welfare laws.
The ministry’s Director General of the Department of Health and Veterinary Control, Dr. Ali Al-Duwairj, said the penalties also included fining a pet shop for displaying and selling sick animals in poor living conditions.
A fine was also issued to a truck driver who transports pets and birds for neglecting to take adequate measures to protect the animals.
In January, 12 camels were disqualified from the King Abdul Aziz Camel Festival after they were found to have been injected with botox.