Abu Dhabi
On July 5, we came across an abandoned building site with five dogs in the Mohammad Bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi. My six-year-old son spotted them. They were in a bad state and needed help as soon as possible. So we started the process with feeding them, providing water and taking them through the trap-neuter-return (TNR) program with the help of Animal Action and volunteers.
One male German Shepherd dog was our first concern as he had a very bad head injury and could not walk and was dragging his hind legs. We caught him within two days and took him to the vet in Khalifa City A, where he had to get a surgery for his badly damaged knees. But, his head wound fully recovered.
Our next trapping was two days later, where we trapped another male dog. Sadly one of the bigger males disappeared from the site and we never saw him again. Two female dogs were left, which we caught on July 22. This is where Becky’s story started.
Once she came from the vet after being cleaned up and sterilised, she came to me for fostering on July 30. She was so scared and did not trust anyone. Any noise would send her off running and hiding under tables and in corners.
On the third day that Becky was with us, I noticed that she wasn’t walking properly and was very hot. So I took her to the vet where they did x-rays and what we saw then was horrible.
Her x-rays showed that she was drenched with pellets! She was somebody’s pet once and most probably used as a live target, abandoned and left to die. What a cruel life she has experienced. She is only one year old.
The vet said that there is nothing that they could do to remove all the pellets as there are too many and Becky would not survive a long surgery. So she has to live with them. Now I know why she is so scared, does not trust humans, cannot handle any noises and worst of all she has to live with pain, fever and discomfort for the rest of her life.
I am writing this to make the public aware of what is going on. We need to open our eyes and help these abandoned animals. Becky is just one of many; there are so many more that need our help. We should support rescue organisations who spend their funds to rescue and feed these animals and bring change. We can all sit around and judge others, or we can stand up and do our part.
— The reader is based in Abu Dhabi.
