Dubai: For 20 days, Beauty was in hell. Or at least that’s how Salem (name changed) described her condition when he retrieved her from her abductors in a villa in Sharjah on July 29.
UAE | General
Canine trafficking: Gang steals dogs in Dubai
Owners complain about their dogs being stolen from their back yards
- By Janice Ponce de Leon, Staff Reporter
- Published: 21:03 August 14, 2012
- Image Credit: Francois Nel/Gulf News
- Beauty, a Japanese akita, was reportedly stolen from her owner’s house on July 9 by and was found twenty days later.
She was very skinny, had attack wounds and droopy eyes. The whole of her back had flea bite dermatitis.
Beauty is a one-year-old Japanese Akita that has been with Salem since she was three months old. She was like a family member, Salem said. Hence, when she went ‘missing’ on July 9, the family was shattered.
“I went looking for Beauty here and there but we couldn’t find her,” Salem, a businessman, told Gulf News.
The next day, word spread in the neighbourhood that three men had attempted to abduct his neighbour’s dog. But a French woman was quick enough to snatch the dog back. The men fled the scene immediately. The French woman, however, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
Twenty days later, Salem received a tip from a pet shop owner that a Japanese Akita matching Beauty’s description was being sold in Sharjah. Salem pretended to be a buyer and tried to strike a deal with the dog keeper.
“He [dog keeper] wanted to sell Beauty at any price because she was really very sick,” he added.
When Salem told him the truth, the man immediately offered to give him his dog back and begged him not to tell the police.
At that time, Salem saw four other huskies and three German Shepherd dogs in the cage.
When Fatima, an Emirati dog owner, learned about the four huskies from Salem, she instantly thought that it could be her huskies Lucy and Rex. The huskies were reportedly stolen in Al Warqa on July 5, four days before Beauty was taken.
“We suspect that they were taken by a gang because we found that the cage lock had been broken open,” Fatima said.
Fatima said that they have exhausted all means to try to locate her dogs but to no avail. She said her dogs could easily fall prey to dog thieves because of their uniqueness, a fact confirmed by Dr Matt, head veterinarian at the Desert Veterinary Clinic in Dubai.
“Huskies could be sold for a lot of money because of their blue eyes,” Dr Matt told Gulf News. Dogs can be sold for prices ranging between Dh5,000 and Dh12,000 depending on the breed. It could go even higher if the breed is rare and if all the documents and vaccines have been completed prior to the sale.
“If they are not properly fed, they could lose weight, develop skin ulcers and diseases. Out of fear, they could react with aggression. Dogs could start biting each other,” Dr Matt said.
It’s been more than a month since Lucy and Rex’s disappearance. Fatima has not lost hope that she will be reunited with them and she prays that day will be soon.
Beauty, meanwhile, is still undergoing treatment and will be back home after some time.
Comments (8)
|
More from UAE General
More from UAE
Latest news
- Al Ain officials probe IELTS, TOEFL scam claim
- Crows destroy Dubai’s native bird species
- Dubai beaches get new change rooms
- Fujairah police investigate engineer’s death
- Mohammad Bin Zayed visits Sharjah
- Three brothers get death penalty in Al Ain
- Arbitrary dismissal case is 14 months late
- Do I have to agree to a limited-term contract?
- My company won't pay my overtime; please help
- Unaware of red meat quality?
- Police rescue tourists stuck in sand dunes
- Dewa staff show charity begins at home
- Arabic conference recommendations revealed
- Adec reviews student safety steps in schools
- Pack simply, pack lightly and pack tightly
Community Reports
-
Seek solace in sarod at Madinat Theatre
Get out of the heat and into Amjad Ali Khan's upcoming sarod concert
-
Buses don’t halt at bus stops being excavated
Excavation turns using public transportation into a nightmare
-
Cyclists put their lives in danger
Alarming volumes of cargo totter precariously above their heads
-
Students step towards a greener planet
The students and their parents participate in a week to raise awareness about going green.