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‘Quiet visitor’ scares woman

Hazel D’Cunha found the ‘quiet visitor’ under a bench in her garden on Friday evening. She first thought of providing it with shelter but the fear of bird flu came over her soon.

“I called up the Ajman Municipality hotline several times. I informed an official that a sick bird was in my garden and that it could be infected with bird flu. I tried to tell them that it should be picked up by the authorities before it spreads the disease,” said Hazel.

“I tried to explain the situation several times in English, but no one even came to have a look at it!” When a hotline official, who could only speak Hindi, was contacted, he said, “I thought a ‘sign board’ had fallen in the woman’s terrace. So, there was no need to send a municipality official to remove it. It could be done by the building owners themselves.”

“Now that it is clear that there is a ‘bird’, I will dispatch someone immediately,” he added.

However, much to the surprise of the family and municipality officials later, the little bird flew away as soon as officials finished checking it thoroughly. “Apparently, it was taking a break after a slight injury,” explained an official.

However, Hazel heaved a sigh of relief as the drama finally came to an end yesterday afternoon.

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