Abu Dhabi - (AFP) - During the summer, when the United Arab Emirates witnesses high temperatures and high humidity, dogs stay in the homes of their owners who only take them outside for very short times, but a new initiative in Abu Dhabi seeks to provide the opportunity to walk for these dogs. Pets in the air-conditioned lounge.

And a store specializing in pet supplies and food in the wealthy Gulf capital two months ago began providing treadmills suitable for dogs for the first time in the Emirates, in a refrigerated hall.

Staff at the store place the two-and-a-half-year-old Welsh Corgi on a treadmill and tie him up so he doesn't fall.

Pakistani Oscar owner Muzlifa Khan is pleased to find this gym, where she brings her dog two to three times a week for walks.

"During the winter, I'm used to walking him, but he stays isolated in the summer because he gets sick from the high temperatures whenever I take him for a walk outside. I got to know this place two months ago and it's close to my house," she told AFP.

Because of the summer heat and suffocating humidity, he "can't walk for more than two or three minutes and wants to go back."

The vet advised her to walk Oscar indoors in the summer because of the risk of heatstroke.
"Last summer was difficult because there was no such place," she adds.

Like other Gulf countries, the UAE experiences long and very hot summers.

In 2020, a study published in the journal "Science Advances" revealed that the temperature and humidity in the Gulf region are higher than anywhere else in the world.
Mansour Al Hammadi, an Emirati dog lover, thought of a suitable alternative, so he decided to import treadmills for his store to encourage dog owners to bring them to him for a walk for a "symbolic price." They pay one dirham for every minute they walk.

The young Emirati owns three dogs, and says he wanted to "provide a suitable nature for the animal in an indoor place, conditioned at a certain temperature." He added, "After the dog finishes running, it needs food and water, and we provide it with all this."

He notes that "the dog comes here to walk, run, and release all the energy it has" because "dogs naturally walk three kilometers a day, so imagine the situation if the owner of the dog could only walk it for a minute or two a day."

"We studied the project thoroughly to be completely safe," he said, explaining that "everything was chosen carefully and not randomly, in order to avoid any future problems and not to cause any harm to the dog while using the device."

As evening falls, Destiny (7 months), a Belgian Shepherd, enthusiastically takes a walk in the hall.

Her Lebanese owner, Fahd Al-Munajjid, says that his dog "knows when it is time to take her to the gym at six o'clock. She has energy, enthusiasm and activity, and she climbs alone on the treadmill."

Al-Munajjid believes that this activity is "the most appropriate solution," explaining that "it is better for the health of the dog to move and expend her energy."

Destiny finally won the speed competition organized by the hall, according to Al-Munajjid, who points out that the devices are not automatic and their pace varies according to the speed of each dog.

And he continues, "It is very healthy, especially if you take care of your dog and make sure to walk it daily."