Polly, a seven-week-old stray kitten, had been dying slowly over the course of many days. Alone and terrified, she lay in front of a busy entrance of a mall in Abu Dhabi. Her tiny body was proof that her suffering had been agonising for weeks.

Under the grocery trolleys where she was found, the amount of excrement was evidence that Polly laid there, day after day, neglected and ill. Many mall patrons witnessed Polly’s suffering. How did the people who saw her choose to simply walk away? Was she ignored because they did not care or they did not know how to help such a pitiful creature?

Seeing Polly’s case, we feel a deepening loss of faith in humankind. Words cannot express our sadness and anger for the lack of compassion that we have witnessed in this case.

Polly was rescued and brought to a veterinary clinic, where she was tended. Sadly, she died within two hours of reaching the clinic.

How many animals have to be neglected to the point of death before any action is taken? It is getting more and more difficult for many compassionate people and animal lovers to coexist in a society that seems to care so little for those who have no voice and who cannot protect themselves.

The members of the community group Fund And Feed Network Abu Dhabi, which is a representative of Middle East Animal Foundation in Abu Dhabi, is starting a community cause, ’In the memory of Polly’. We ask for justice for all the forgotten animals in the UAE.

The authorities should consider employing officers to rescue abandoned animals. They could also consider making fully-funded animal shelters, appropriate and reformed trap-neuter-return (TNR) projects and education programs for the public.

In cases like Polly’s, inaction means death. If you see an animal suffering or in distress take immediate action. Call the authorities to report animal cruelty or reach out to a local animal welfare group and ask for help or advice. We cannot expect to improve humanity without compassion.

— The reader is the acting director of operations at the Middle East Animal Foundation.

FACTBOX:

Federal Law No. 16 of 2007 protects the rights of animals in the UAE. According to the law, the owner of an animal is considered to have done an act of cruelty if he isolates or detains the animal without providing it with sufficient food, water and good ventilation, or if the animal is unhealthy.

Abandoning an animal or leaving it without care for a long and unspecified period, unless he had an acceptable reason or is permitted by the competent authority, is also considered an act of cruelty.

Mistreatment of animals can result in a one year imprisonment and a Dh20,000 fine.