(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Coffee is not the only dog that has been through a harrowing time. How she got injured is not known.
Dubai — On Saturday afternoon the community Facebook page of ‘SOS for Emirates dogs’ had an update saying: “We received a call from the Civil Defence Umm Al Quwain to rescue a doggy (sic) which had been injured. She was being fed by the workers there but was starting to upset some of the staff. We of course rescued her and named her Coffee. She was sent to the Ras Al Khaimah Animal Welfare Centre for diagnosis. Coffee has a coxofemoral (hip) joint luxation that can only be corrected by surgery. This involves removing the head of the femur and making a false hip joint. It also means the affected leg will be a bit shorter than the other one and she will walk with a slight limp. SOSers we need your help. If you can donate towards her surgery please (message) us for account or paypal details. We cannot help Coffee without your support.”
Coffee is not the only dog that has been through a harrowing time. How she got injured is not known. Fact is all across the Emirates (and the world over) cases of dog abandonment and cruelty crop up with unfailing regularity.
From RAK to Atlanta
The Ras Al Khaimah Animal Welfare Centre page on FB had an update about a dog with a happier ending.
“Most of you will remember Sky a beautiful little Saluki cross dumped at RAK AWC in the middle of the night. Terribly emaciated and suffering from Erlichea she was so weak she could hardly stand. With the love and medical care from the staff at RAK AWC she was restored to full health…
A month in a foster home showed her to be a perfect family pet yet she always seemed to be overlooked. Lady Luck smiled on Sky though and a wonderful home was found for her in Atlanta USA where she would have other dogs as well as humans for company. Her luck continued when a flight buddy to New York was found.
Yesterday she flew to New York where her new owner met her for the first time before flying back home to Atlanta with Sky. We’re very happy to hear that Sky coped with the journey very well and is happily settling into her new home.....”
“Please mention the cruelty and violence” says dog lover Yana Malikova participant of Dubai Dog Society (which has the support of SOS for Emirates Dogs and APA Dubai). Yana has been in Dubai for seven years and is active in speaking out against the shooting of animals and other violence perpetuated on abandoned dogs. Sterilisation she says is much cheaper and more humane than euthanasia and bullying.
“Unfortunately in the UAE many people just throw their pets on the street when they get annoyed with them. They poison them abuse them....” She says people should understand that they set an example to the young generation “and if we don’t try to stop it kids like sponges will copy this violence.”
Yana urges animal lovers to volunteer at any one of the abundant organisations doing good work.
Dh20000 fine
Under the UAE Federal Law 16 of 2007 mistreatment of animals can result in one year imprisonment and a Dh20000 fine.
Yana (who quotes Mahatma Gandhi —“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”) speaks of the heartbreaking cases she knows of; shooting of dogs bringing to dehydration beating and bullying in various ways. Not all can be printed here. Her mission at present is in Umm Al Quwain where a shelter is being constructed to help injured and abused dogs and other animals.
Gimme shelter
“Umm Al Quwain was the only emirate without any shelter at all and the emirate has the biggest problem of abandoned dogs.” Seeking “any kind of donations” Yana stresses the food part. “Animals always need food donations this is the most significant part of help. As well as food they need toys we need many construction materials such as gravel awnings trees for more comfortable environment cloth towels blankets.... We help not only dogs but also cats donkeys cows all the animals which come our way”.
We can and must prevent the violence in this case we all need to be just more responsive to the woes of our small brethren.