Dinky all set to fly to the UK again

Dubai:

Dinky, the Ragdoll cat that was miraculously reunited with his British owner Ian Lees on Sunday, 60 days after he went missing from a Dubai flight to London, is all set to fly to the UK again.

As the 69-year-old Lees awaited final clearances for Dinky’s departure on September 30, he told XPRESS he donated the Dh5,000 he had announced as cash reward for the cat’s finder to a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) fund for three veterinary clinics supporting Bin Kitty Collective, a popular community website dedicated to the welfare of street cats in the UAE.

Good news

The breaking news on Dinky’s dramatic reunion by XPRESS was reported in Gulf News on Sunday, just hours after Lees and his Dubai-based daughter Donna Louise Bailey returned to her Al Mizhar 1 residence upon collecting Dinky from Dubai Municipality’s Veterinary Control Unit.

“It was 20 minutes to 7 when we received a message from Dubai Municipality giving us the good news this morning. It was nothing short of a miracle,” said Lees, who had specially flown back from the UK to Dubai last week to launch a concerted search for Dinky.

The mystery surrounding the nine-month-old cat’s bizarre disappearance was also first reported in the UAE by XPRESS on August 9. Dinky had done the vanishing act when Lees and his wife Susan, 65, Dubai residents for five years, were returning to the UK for good on Emirates flight EK 011 with their other pet cat Cleo on July 27.

But Lees subsequently told XPRESS he was convinced the cat escaped from his carrier before he could be put on the flight. The exclusive interview went viral over the social media and local animal welfare and community online forums.

Confirming Dinky’s disappearance, Emirates SkyCargo had earlier said, “During inspection it was found that one of the hinges of the cage was loose and that the door was slightly ajar. A thorough search of the cargo hold of the aircraft was conducted both at London Gatwick and at Dubai when the aircraft returned, however the cat was not traced. Emirates SkyCargo is extending all possible support to tracing and reuniting the cat with his owners.”

While it is still not clear how Dinky disappeared, Lees said the cat was handed over to Dubai Municipality by a woman who found him in Al Barsha and his identification was possible because of his microchip. “It’s anybody’s guess how Dinky reached Al Barsha South, 28km from the airport. But I would like to thank Dubai Municipality, Emirates and all the animal rescue groups, volunteers, friends and family who helped us find Dinky. Thank you XPRESS for everything you’ve done,” said Lees.

He said, “At my age it’s easy to become cynical. But who could have ever imagined finding a London-bound cat that got lost in Dubai probably more than once after 60 days? It restores my faith in humanity. There are many people out there who will go to any lengths to help others.”

Grange of Bin Kitty Collective said, “Once it was established that Dinky’s microchip matched that of the cat surrendered to Dubai Municipality, the news spread like wildfire - we have over 25,000 members. It’s hard to say what exactly happened, but everything became so public and this possibly had a lot to do with the cat being traced.”

Amidst the buzz on community websites and social media, Donna said she got the contact of the woman who handed Dinky to Dubai Municipality from an animal rescuer on the Bin Kitty Collective forum.

The rescuer, Maitha Al Shamsi of the Protection of Animal Rights Association, said, “One of my friends tipped me off and I just had to pass on the information. It’s amazing how the cat was reunited with his owner against all odds.”

Faisal Ibrahim Almuammar, head of the Dubai Municipality Veterinary Control Unit, said, “We regularly restore lost pets to their owners. It is easy to establish contact if there is a microchip.”

Donna said her father’s decision to come back to Dubai to look for Dinky had paid off. She said, “The earlier assumption based on information we had was that Dinky got to Gatwick. So my parents looked for him around London with the help of volunteers. But my dad returned with an empty carrier from animal reception at Gatwick and could tell a cat could not have been inside the carrier for more than a couple of hours as the bedding was intact. So he concluded Dinky escaped from the carrier in Dubai itself before the flight took off.”

She said Dinky and Lees will be flying Emirates again when they head home this weekend, all expenses paid by the airline.

“We are very thankful to everyone and to XPRESS for helping us get our message out to people,” she added.