Facilities and Community, in partnership with Engineering & Project Management and the Safaa Kennel & Vet Club (KVC), is pleased to announce that the Safaa Vet Clinic and new Safaa Kennel and Cattery boarding facilities are now complete.
This new facility can accommodate cats and dogs in separate enclosures with air-conditioned sleeping quarters. The facility also contains dog runs and play areas.
The clinic and boarding facilities will be managed by the KVC on a voluntary basis, so community support is essential for success. The KVC will be hosting an open day on Saturday, April 9, with further details to be announced shortly.
Pets in the Community Guidelines
To ensure KAUST pets are happy and healthy and to ensure the safety and comfort of all community members, the Pet Policy has been reviewed and replaced with new Guidelines for Ownership of Pets in the Community, with effect from Sunday, March 27.
All pets must now be registered with the KVC. The deadline to register your pet(s) is Friday, April 15.
Pets can be registered at the Safaa Vet Clinic or directly with the KVC. For further information on registration, the vet clinic or boarding facilities, please check the FAQ’s on the KVC website or send an email to kvc@kaust.edu.sa.
8 comments
Today is 24th Thursday, and the new rules will be effective on Sunday. Giving just one-business-day notice, actually less than 3 working hours, does not seem to be enough for most of the pet owners.
And, it would be much better if the locations of the new facilities were included in the posting.
Question, will foster pets from other KSA charities that are rescued into the safety of KAUST homes be exempt? We do not have pets but we have helped foster and rehome 25 dogs last year and if we had to pay this automatic fee, we would be out of pocket for 3250 SAR, a cost that would have been very hard to pass onto the KSA charity our TKS children volunteer with. Our children who are trying to give back to KSA with this charity work, would have to stop rescuing extremely vulnerable dogs if they had to pay 150 SAR for every dog they helped rescue especially when many of the dogs they rescue are here for only a few weeks, some for only a few days.
Answer provided from the KVC SDG by Caroline Knowles who has written to me that she has read the KAUST pet guidelines, Caroline has confirmed there is a waiver program for some pets to be made exempt from fees, upon application and approval by the F&C. Caroline strongly encouraged us (anyone) to apply to the F&C to have their foster pets at KAUST waived from fees to the KVC. This is excellent news for not only the folk who are rescuing in strays to heal, train and rehome but also for the KSA charities who support KAUST foster families. Thanks Caroline for the quick KVC response and good luck with your new kennels, they are just stunning.
May i say as a member of the community who has chosen not to get a pet because of anxieties of trying to find care over the holidays i think this is a brilliant move and i am really grateful for all the effort people have put into to making these things available within our community. Thank you
Can you please define what ‘treated as a stray’ in the policy means please :
3.9 Any animal found wandering in the community without a collar and tag will be collected by Pest Control and will be treated as a stray.
As many cat owners will testify cat collars are designed to be ‘break-away’ in case they become entangled in bushes etc. Therefore it often happens that a cat can leave home with a collar and tag and return without either collar or tag. It does not mean that they are a ‘stray’ but have lost their collar/tag temporarily. There should at least be a ‘grace period’ of a few days while owners try to locate their cat before it is disposed of as a stray.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for raising your concerns. The Pest Control Department will soon be in possession of a micro-chip reader that has been kindly donated by the vet clinic in order to scan pets that may be lost or wandering away from home. For cat owners who are concerned about the break-away design of the collars, they may opt to micro-chip their pets.
To support this initiative, the vet is currently performing micro-chipping at a reduced cost. On that note, anyone who has a pet from home that has already been chipped, should ensure to update the chipping database with their current location and contact details. For further information on micro-chipping or the service being provided by the vet clinic, please contact the KVC at kvc@kaust.edu.sa.
Hello,
I’m not against registering pets on campus to manage the pet population and incite responsible ownership. But I find it highly unusual to ‘force’ people to ‘pay’ to register their animals.
Furthermore, in the KVC Manual it is written that “Only KVC members are eligible to use the Safaa Vet Clinic and Boarding Facilities.” This would imply that non-members are not allowed to use it, which would imply that we would have a ‘choice’ to become members or not. Yet that is not the case.
Again, I’m not against having a Vet and Kennel Facilities on campus for those who want to use them. But I don’t understand how membership to a “Club” can be mandatory.
Dear Dawn,
The registration fee that is applicable to cats and dogs has been established in order for pet owners to contribute to the additional support services and facility improvements that have been requested within the community for their pets. These projects and improvements are not limited to the new vet and kennel facility, but also include new projects that are in the planning stage such as additional enclosed dog runs at the beach and residential areas, as well as a pets “lost & found” program.
The KVC has accepted the responsibility of not only maintaining the KAUST pet data base and managing and operating the vet and kennels, but also acting as the champion of these new projects.
We recognise that there are some conflicts between the language in the Pet Guidelines and the KVC manual which has led to some confusion around the pet registration and fee, and the requirement to become a member of the SDG. Both documents are being reviewed and an update will be released at the end of the week.