Meet a dog's best friend

Former stockbroker saves more than 20 abused animals in Ajman.

Florence Nightingale to the pet community of Ajman, Neeta Singh has stepped in where most mortals fear to tread.

She has taken on stubborn neighbours, abusive children and even involved the police when things went too far in horrific cases of animal abuse.

Saviour of pets

Born in Africa, reared in New York, Dallas and Hawaii, Singh, 38, was a stockbroker until three years ago.

Now she is a saviour of pets in Ajman where she has rescued, cared for and relocated 20 dogs and cats in the 18 months since she arrived in the country.

She has a healthy background in pet care as she has been rescuing and relocating pets since she was a child.

She is also a member of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

She has found desert dogs roaming around Ajman. She takes them in, washes and finds homes for them. On occasion, she must deal with animal cruelty closer to home.

"A puppy not more than 4 weeks old was once thrown over my compound wall at my front door by a group of local children. She was a tiny creature and still wobbly on her feet. She was so small that I didn't see her until I asked the children why they rang my doorbell and they pointed to a creamish-coloured ball of fur."

Animal cruelty

"The children wanted money for her. They steal puppies from one home and take them to expatriate homes hoping to make money. They even steal puppies from stray mothers who have crawled into secluded places to have their pups."

"Two days later, the same group of children tossed another puppy over my wall and said that it was the first one's brother. I had to eventually call the police to put a stop to the practice."

Worse cases of abuse have found their way to her doorstep.

"I don't know how it found its way to my driveway, but when I was going out to the car one day I saw a dog
sitting there with its front leg chopped off. It did not look like an accident, because the cut was clean."

"I took it in, comforted it as much as possible and called K9 Friends and a veterinarian. She slept for 8 hours and was taken away and cared for by K9."

"Another puppy was stabbed by a local resident who used to feed it regularly, when it walked into his bathroom. The puppy was eating when it was spooked by something and ran into the bathroom. The man stabbed the puppy so severely that its whole chest was gaping open when I saw it."

Injured and traumatised

"I was driving to Ajman Kempinski and saw a group of people yanking a puppy up and down by a hosepipe tied around its neck. I got off to investigate and was told what had happened. The poor thing was in a state of shock. I took it away and wrapped it up and called K9, but it had to be put away as it was severely injured and traumatised."

Being a member of the ASPCA, Singh receives brochures, pamphlets and calendars that she would love to distribute.

"I would really like to find a forum to get this stuff out there to educate people, but the schools I approached were not interested even though the material was free."

Miserable incidents

As an example of the apathy she battles, she spoke of an incident in one of the schools where during "show and tell" a child had brought in a Siberian husky puppy.

"The teacher was happy to have the pup and the girls listened quietly and with interest, but the boys started throwing pencils and rulers at it. The headmistress came rushing out of her room and was very upset that the dog had been allowed in at all."

For all the miserable incidents she has witnessed, Singh has been part of a few success stories as well.

Max, a golden retriever, was abandoned by Singh's Polish neighbour five years after having him as a pet.

The neighbour found it too expensive to spend Dh3,000 to take the dog with him.

He first dumped the dog at a friend's warehouse, but had to remove it before inspectors arrived for a regular warehouse check. Max is now living with a loving family at the Arabian Ranches after Singh stepped in.

Three months ago, Singh decided to set up an establishment where she pet-sits for friends and others through word of mouth while people leave the country on vacation.

She looks after dogs, cats, goldfish and birds, but draws the line at snakes.

"I had two requests to look after snakes, but I'm a bit queasy on snakes. I don't know enough about them to take care of them," she says.