Dubai: Animal lovers in the UAE are extremely heartened after five pet dogs were rushed from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah to donate blood to a rescued Saluki that was shot multiple times.
The dog was rescued from the premises of a cafeteria in Al Dhaid three nights earlier, said Amirah William, founder of Stray Dogs Centre (SDC) in Umm Al Quwain.
“He was wounded badly and he was found outside the cafeteria with no water or food,” she told Gulf News.
“A passerby showed some compassion, gave him milk and contacted us. He was kind. He waited with the doggy until we reached,” she said.
It took the rescue team from SDC three hours up and down to get the dog to a vet clinic in Ras Al Khaimah. William named the dog “Lucky” because “it was lucky to be rescued”.
Wounded and malnourished
At the Vets24 Veterinary Clinic in Ras Al Kahimah where he was taken, Lucky was found to have been shot in three places.
Dr Chenjerai Sigauke, who treated Lucky, said the X-ray showed the dog had three pellets lodged around his neck area. “He is quite malnourished. He is anaemic and all his parameters are low. Besides being shot, he has multiple wounds as well,” Dr Sigauke added.
Lucky took a downward turn on Tuesday morning, following which the SDC shared an Instagram post with an appeal seeking blood donors for him.
“Lucky is going downhill and we need to do an urgent blood transfusion and we need a donor at least 25 to 30kg”, healthy and with no tick-related illnesses, the post said.
Quick response
Help came “almost immediately”. “Five doggies were sent down to Ras Al Khaimah from Dubai,” William said, taking the opportunity to thank the pets' owner for the kind gesture.
Dr Sigauke said a Caucasian Shepherd weighing 74kg and named Bonny was chosen to donate blood for Lucky due to “appropriate weight and temperament”.
The blood transfusion saw Bonny donating 300ml of blood to Lucky. “We are going to do some more tests on Lucky. Once he stabilises, he can undergo the surgery to remove the pellets,” said Dr Sigauke.
Report animal cruelty
Calling for action against those who injured Lucky, William said: “It is very difficult when there is no eye witness. If people witness something like this, it needs to be reported and the culprits need to be punished.”
Earlier this month, SDC volunteers had extended support to rescue a Husky locked out in an apartment balcony in Dubai.
