Reading about a year-old pet lioness wandering around a busy district of Dubai got me thinking that we were missing out not having a pet.
Having gold fish in a tank is fine, but they somehow do not count as pets as you cannot take them out for a walk or put them on your lap and tickle them under their chin to hear a satisfying, purring noise. Our goldfish are ornamental fish and are more to enjoy watching as they swim lazily, showing off their sweepingly long tails and are like living, breathing artwork.
I always wanted a dog and so went back to Dubizzle and searched “dogs for free adoption”. All the breeds were big, more than knee-high and used to living in a villa, and maybe needed to wander off from time to time in the neighbourhood, like the bored, house-bound lioness did the other day.
But I was not sure how the maid and cook would react when she sees a massive dog in our tiny flat. “This super girl is looking for a forever home,” said the advert. The picture showed a beautiful mixed Saluki looking right into the camera and at me. “Wonder if the maid would bathe the dog if we pay her a bit extra,” I thought to myself.
Looking after a dog is a chore if you do not know how, but I wondered how that maid survived with a lioness in the house. “Dear mama, life is good here. The weather has changed and it is quite pleasant. Please don’t tell dad as his heart is weak, but my master got a lion home and I have to look after it, feed it and keep its air-conditioned room clean. Don’t worry, I will not feed it by hand. Sometimes when I am alone I think what would happen if I unlock its chain, ha ha ha ha. Just kidding. Bye and love.”
Creating an impression
I thought only rap artists kept exotic pets, those guys with all the bling on their fingers, and weighed down by obscenely thick, gold chains around their necks and who I think write songs like this: “Me and mama are pacing, pacing/Up, round, down and about the jacuzzi/She slink, shine, in dying sunlight/Mama smiles, Oh my, her fangs, pearls/I gotta got it now, me baby, the pet.”
The only person I saw with an exotic pet was Cleopatra, the North African queen. I saw Elizabeth Taylor in the Hollywood movie once and she usually sat on a throne with a sleek, shiny leopard at her side. But I think it was mostly to create an impression that even dangerous animals were under her command.
Expats, on the other hand, buy pets maybe because they are lonely, but they abandon them on the streets when they have to relocate and leave.
“We rescued this gorgeous Persian from a car park,” said one advert. “He was starving and was injured, but we have nursed it back to health. He is dewormed and microchipped. ”
When I showed interest in that cat, I had to answer a lot of questions. “Do you know an average lifespan of a cat is 15 years? Can you provide it a home for that long? Do you have any allergies? Do you have children?” This was as tough as adopting a child.
Which was good because every year you find hundreds of stray pets wandering around Dubai and getting killed on the streets.
Dubai Municipality trainers who caught the lioness said she was stressed out. I thought it was illegal to own exotic pets and the days of finding a cheetah sitting in the passenger seat of an expensive car, had gone by.
Mahmood Saberi is a freelance journalist based in Dubai. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mahmood_saberi.
