Pet owners and animal carers across Pakistan are in shock after learning that the ban on ‘non-essential and luxury’ items that the Government of Pakistan announced on Thursday in the Import Policy Order, 2022, to tackle the mounting economic crisis, includes dog and cat food with total monthly imports of around $6.4 million dollars.
SRO 598(I)/2022, issued by the Ministry of Commerce, lists ‘Dog and Cat Food’ as one of the several ‘commodities’, including foods, home appliances, ornamental pieces, and apparel, that have been banned.
Pet food, including dog, cat and all other animal food products, had a total monthly import value of just $6.41 million during the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21). This makes for just 0.031 percent of the monthly import value of all banned ‘non-essential and luxury’ items worth $2.48 billion (FY21). When compared to Pakistan’s total monthly imports of $6.67 billion (April FY22), Pet food makes for just 0.00096 percent of all monthly imports.
Millions of upset cat and dog carers are frantically looking to stock up on good quality imported food for their fur babies and are also worried about the impact that it will have if they are forced to switch to substandard locally manufactured brands, if available. Such foods have been known to cause painful early deaths among cats and dogs of all ages.
Similarly, most zoo animals like tigers, lions, wolves, bears etc. are also fed specific imported cat and dog foods in Pakistan due to veterinary requirements.
Many took to social media to share their concerns, with posts ranging from how can pet food be an unnecessary luxury while it is actually a necessity, to the insensitivity of the decision, seeking alternative suggestions (especially for pets with help conditions, who rely only on imported food for medical reasons), highlighting that even vets do not recommend local pet food, to hopes that the government will reverse the ban.
WHAT THE HELL!!!! Imported pet food is termed unnecessary & banned!! We have ZERO good locally produced brands. We have ZERO locally produced brands for special medical needs animals. What would we do!? Rescuers, fosters, shelters!? What!!!? Who can I tag and complain about this?
— Billiyon ki Maa (@Kiranology) May 18, 2022
Can we please not ban the imports of pet food? There are no local alternatives #Banned
— Ezza (@EzzaSyed) May 20, 2022
News anchor Gharidah Farooqi joined the outcry on Friday and tweeted, “Why has Govt banned Cat & Dog Food? This one is not well-advised. This food is not a luxury but a necessary item for those who keep pets. Request to PM @CMShehbaz to kindly lift ban on this item since there is no local food available for these creatures”.
Why has Govt banned Cat & Dog Food? This one is not well advised. This food is not a luxury but a necessary item for those who keep pets. Request to PM @CMShehbaz to kindly lift ban on this item since there is no local food available for these creatures. #AnimalRights pic.twitter.com/6WMu97cAlh
— Gharidah Farooqi (@GFarooqi) May 20, 2022
There is a general consensus among animal carers and vets that local pet food is mostly substandard and lacks the nutritional value that foreign pet food brands have as the latter is highly regulated to ensure the utmost standards of hygiene, quality, and safety. A number of Pakistanis prefer to give not just their pets but even stray cats and dogs food from foreign brands because of the health and fatal risks associated with local brands.
Lahore-based advocate, Hira Jaleel, who has a dog and a cat, was irked by the ban and said that it is not economically feasible to switch to the other options that include fresh meats and homemade food.
“A bag of imported dog food costs me Rs. 12,000, covers my dog’s needs with its balanced nutritional content, and lasts nearly a month. Fresh meat is very expensive and does not have the same nutritional value [as packaged food] and has to be accompanied by supplements, which are also imported”.
She sees the ban as an “uninformed decision” and opined that the reason behind it is that the government does not consider animals, which are sentient beings and have a right to good quality food as important enough to be fed, which is why it probably considers feeding even stray cats and dogs a ‘luxury’.
Jaleel, like many other concerned pet owners, dreads her pets falling ill and dying if they are forced to eat local and substandard alternatives.
Pet owners and animal rescuers are familiar with incidents of animals becoming sick after changes in their feed and food brands. Pet owners, animal rescue shelters, vets, and those who feed strays are now dreading the wave of sickness and deaths that they foresee in light of the ban.
Dr. Muhammad Awais at Pets and Vets Hospital Bahria Town, Rawalpindi said that the imported cat and dog foods that are sold at local clinics are manufactured after intensive research and testing, and have several varieties and flavors, many of which are manufactured to target particular needs and health concerns (like renal food for kidney issues, gastrointestinal food, and for pets with urinary stones) with successful results.
He believes that the shortage will “affect the pets’ quality of life,” especially if a pet is known to have been surviving and improving primarily because of the imported food it has been consuming. He explained that such pets would be have to put on medication after the ban, and not all the required alternative medicines are available in Pakistan.
“This will result in long-term suffering of the animal and its owner,” he remarked and added that it will even affect the vets’ treatment plans that do not seem to be feasible.
He said that locally manufactured food is not a viable option from a professional point of view because there is not a lot of reliable research involved and the ingredients are often not “animal-friendly”, besides having slow results (six months to a year) if being used for a medical concern.
Dr. Awais also mentioned that pets, and cats, in particular, are picky eaters and dislike changes in their preferred foods. If forced to, they develop health conditions like loss of appetite, weight loss, coat issues, vomiting, and loose stools.
“These are the grave concerns that pet owners are going to face now, and we already know that animal care is not taken seriously in Pakistan, and those of us who are struggling for animal care and welfare here are simply going to fall a huge step behind,” he remarked.
This scribe had reached out to different pet food suppliers and retailers to get a comment on the situation at hand. It was learned that they are reluctant to comment on the situation and are awaiting an official directive. Some of them affirmed the shortage of cat and dog food as well.
Ammad Cheema, a pet food retailer at Pet Set in Islamabad, confirmed the ban on dog and cat food as per SRO 598(I)/2022 and said that all their importers have suspended their supplies for now. He highlighted two immediate resultant risks: firstly, exotic pets, house pets, stray and shelter cats and dogs, certain zoo animals, newborns and infants, and those that have chronic health conditions (renal, skin, urinary, etc.) and infections for which they are on vet-prescribed diets rely on imported foods and will suffer greatly because of the ban.
Secondly, no pet food manufacturer can develop and mass-produce it in less than two months in such situations, and if the ban and pet food shortage are 15 to 30 days long, the pet food market will be in a serious predicament regardless, he said.
Cheema continued, “The dilemma is not particular to cats and dogs but extends to the big cat family at zoos and can be confirmed by any vet. Big cats at zoos are prescribed imported cat food, and its dearth will result in their breeding and health complications as well. Even stray dog and cat neutering and spaying NGOs, animal rescues and shelters, and the Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) affiliated organization for street dogs will be badly affected by this decision because it is not feasible for the staff to make homemade food for them as an alternative to imported packaged cat and dog food”.
“The entire country is going to be afflicted because the quality of locally produced cat and dog food does not match the standards of the imported foods. There are no equivalent alternative local brands with desirable production capacity and similar health-related results. Conversely, a lot of quarters, be it businesses, pet sellers, or animal shelters, are going to bear the brunt of the ban,” Cheema emphasized.
While cash-strapped Pakistan is looking at dwindling foreign currency reserves, debilitating debt, and rampant inflation, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that the “decision to ban (the) import of luxury items will save the country precious foreign exchange”.
The Minister for Information, Marriyum Aurangzeb, stated at a press conference that the ban will be effective immediately.
The ban is being seen as an effort to target the country’s elite and business leaders want the government to consult the World Trade Organization, which regulates international trade, in this regard. On the other hand, pet owners, animal shelter staff, and animal lovers are praying for a reversal of the unreasonable ban on the import of cat and dog food.
Which one would you prefer ANIMALS OR YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ? YOU DON’T HAVE GOOD LOCAL ANIMAL FOOD THEN PRODUCE ONE !!!
The question of preference is wrong you don’t own a pet thats why you don’t know. All living beings should be kept in considering the needs of one living being can’t be superior to the other. They should ban when they have alternative its just lack of governance
I doubt any brothers or sisters will die because of 0.00096% of foreign exchange.
Remove this Syed from ur Name, U can’t be one. You are a disgrace, u rightly deserve to eat Dog food
Remove this Syed from ur Name, U can’t be one. You are a pure Dhakan, u rightly deserve to eat Dog food
Animals should be taught to live naturally with natural foods not artificial imported stuff. The decision is very good and very pertinent.
thoughtful reply.
Humans also should be taught to live naturally and eat raw food and meat as was done in most of the history of humanity in caves. What a dumb logic.
The planet you’re from hasn’t even been discovered yet. You illiterate dhakan it is actually better for cats and dogs to eat raw meat. And I don’t know which cave your raw meat eating ancestors came out of, us humans are descendants of Hazrat Ibrahim.
Don’t know about others but you’re definitely not a descendant of Hazrat Ibrahim as can be seen with the way you talk. BTW, Islam says that we are all descendants of Hazrat Adam and Hazrat Nooh not Hazrat Ibrahim. Muslims are his Ummah not descendants. Please educate yourself before calling others illiterate Dhakan.
Oh and BTW research says that eating unprocessed raw meat is “unhealthy” for cats and dogs which is also the reason that forest and wild animals die earlier compared to pets. And humans did not used to eat burgers, coffee and tea etc. until a few hundred and thousands years ago, respectively.
exactly… a crackhead government we have.
You seem to have no idea whatsoever about feed of pets.
I’m not against any other bans but this is just dumb because there is literally no alternative like any local pet food!
Pakistan is dying and your are talking about animals and pets. First save Pakistan and then save animals.
Pakistan won’t be saved with 0.00096% of foreign exchange. If you’re really worried about Pakistan stop drinking tea and Banaspati ghee.This will save far more foreign exchange.
Some people are not greedy and not put their lives first… In islam were taught to think about others first then our selfs.
Please unban pet food …. Local food isn’t safe for pets unban pet food so please have mercy
What a stupid article this is. Cats and dogs don’t need our help to feed themselves, you over previlaged spoilt brats need to realize that dogs and cats are very self reliant animals who would eat their owners if the need arose. Just make the food at home like a normal person
“who would eat their owners” I would like you to point out such incidents. Haven’t seen any pet or stray cats and dogs eating people in Pakistan.
Everyone should educate themselves before making any comments. The ban includes medical pet food which is also used for zoo animals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Even if u make home food they refuse to eat they prefer their food.same like if we ban urs wheat.ppl who dnt have pets cannot understand their need. They are use to of their feed and they cannot digest other food.it varies from animal to animal.its really not fair with them.
Yes cats dogs and zoo animals need food. Humans can look after themselves animals cannot. How do zoo animals get food.
we actually care about our pets and if they were really starving we would give up our selves to feed them. and its spoiled not spoilt. fix your grammar.
For everyone information
The Organic Meat Company recently got 2 Million USD export order from abroad. They already make animal food.
So Millions of these animals will survive.
The law of nature defines adaptability and all species ( human and animals) are flexible to adopt available food type regardless of local or imported.
We do not have any body or authority to monitor the quality of animal food. Even if they do make animal food, what animals do they make it for? Which country are they exporting to?
Law of nature has not allowed us to adapt to low quality food in Pakistan and we have average age of 65 that’s decreasing each year. People would not be dying of kidney failure, stomach ulcers and lung cancers if we could adopt to such things. Please read more about this “Law” of yours. There is no such Law that I know of. Theory, yes. Law No.
What nonsense! Cats and dogs have been pets for thousands if years, and have been healthy and thriving without canned food.
Firstly, it’s not just canned food. It also includes dry food and veterinary food. Average cat and dog age is higher when they are fed appropriate packaged food compared to desi food.
Ye wo log Jin ke mulazimon ke bachay phattay purany kapron me or Raat ko bhookay soatay hayn.or in ko kutton or billion ki imported khuraak chahye.
Bhai hamaray kui mulazim nahi hain na hi hamaray mahinay k 2 hazar rupay k imported cat food say kui bhooka nahi marta leken 4 billian jin ki zimidari ham pay hay ab wo zinda rah laiti hain.
Local Manufacturer must produce feed for all animals and birds on high standard. i would suggest to ban on import of each and everything. Apney Kadmo per aise hi Kharey hona seekhein gy. warna hamesha dependent raheyn gy. har cheez import , har cheez import .. export per bhi ban hona chahiye un items ki jin ki production mulk me unsufficient hy.
Animals are crying over the ban
These animals are poor and God had given us to look after them in return we get blessings in Islam we are not to kill them why we are stopping their Food if you have to ban do makeup like things spoiling our new generation licker type things
Cat food should not be banned, this is not a luxury good. It is a necessity for pets, otherwise pets will die and suffer. Those who have banned pet food are accountable for the lives of these souls. They are living creatures and all creatures have right to live freely including pets who stand equal to humans. Let those who can keep pets, care for them. DO NOT BAN CAT FOOD.
its not like were gonna ask the government to pay for the food or were gonna feed him the food or something . stupid
Why can’t cats and dogs eat what they have been eating for millennia? Why only imported pet food or they will die
issue is not that why pets dont eat local feed or something .but problem is that why
things are ban ? not only pets food
customers pay tax not only product price.
I would rather feed the cats.
The brothers should get a job so they can feed themselves. Like the rest of us.
My cat loves fried chicken breast.
So I don’t have a problem with ct food but there are many cat owners that have pets that prefer processed.
Why not ban alcohol? After all its against Islam to drink alcohol.
First of all no offense to anyone. Secondly, I had a Persian odd eye, so I know how much they are dependent on biscuits and canned food. If you are having one young cat, the expense may not be much. But the older cats they eat alot and the dogs would be eating a lot lot more. But, the pet owners would also be knowing that along with this food they can eat natural food as well, we cannot deny this fact. But the point is that if we give dollars for these minute things, it will add up. If you allow pet food, because of necessity, why not serums and cosmetic, why not phones, why not chocolates, and so on. No one is going to die if these luxuries are banned. But, ultimately the poor would have to bear the high cost for necessities. If you don’t put ban, there would be no local production. Give the local market a little time and then resume the ban. If you can produce fighter jets why not cat dog food.