Saudis have finally gone too far!

Sure, everyone is talking about the Muslim [over]reaction to the Pope's stupid comments last week but I think the shit has finally hit the fan when Fifi and Fido are dragged into it.

The [Saudi religious] police have issued a decree banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence.

The prohibition on dogs may be less of a surprise, since conservative Muslims despise dogs as unclean. But the cat ban befuddled many, since Islamic tradition holds that the Prophet Muhammad loved cats — and even let a cat drink from his ablutions water before washing himself for prayers.

The religious police, known as the Muttawa, have the role of enforcing Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic code. Its members prowl streets and malls, ensuring unmarried men and women do not mix, confronting women they feel are not properly covered or urging men to go to prayers.

But the government also gives the Muttawa wide leeway to enforce any rules they deem necessary to uphold the social order.

The decree — which applies to the Red Sea port city of Jiddah and the holy city of Mecca — bans the sale of cats and dogs because “some youths have been buying them and parading them in public,” according to a memo from the Municipal Affairs Ministry to Jiddah’s city government...

“Then what’s the point of dragging a dog behind you?” he [Aleetha al-Jihani in a letter to Al-Madina newspaper] added. “This is blind emulation of the infidels.”