Stray animals continue to pose traffic hazards

It is not an uncommon sight to come across animal carcasses on the roads, or mangled vehicles on the highways, lying in mute testimony to the many accidents caused by stray animals, particularly camels.

The mountainous terrain coupled with stretches of desert make driving on the highway a truly testing proposition, many road users believe.

Part of the blame and responsibility rests with owners of animals, who carelessly allow their herds to graze out of their pens, leading to accidents when the animals cross the highways.

When the issue took a serious turn, His Highness Shaikh Hamad bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Fujairah, issued a decree (No. 3 of 1994), to protect the lives and properties of citizens and residents from stray animals.

Under the law, the owner is prohibited from allowing his animals to graze in a manner that damages the surroundings and poses hazards to public health. The law also stipulates that the owner will be held responsible for damages caused by stray animals and that the owner was obliged to provide a suitable place to raise the animal. If the animal is left to graze out of the designated area, it would be confiscated and put in a pen belonging to Fujairah Municipality.

Says Abdullah Saif, a resident of Dibba: "We (residents who work out of Fujairah) are the ones that are worst hit by stray animals on the highways and other roads. We go to work in Sharjah, Dubai and even Abu Dhabi, and have no choice but to use the Dibba-Masafi-Fujairah road or the Dibba-Masafi-Al Dhaid road, which are the most dangerous roads because of the many stray animals in these areas."

"As it is, the terrain is tough to handle with the roads winding through the mountains. We always have to bear the damages, as we incur losses when our vehicles are involved in accidents with stray animals. The municipality should conduct frequent inspection campaigns to confiscate stray animals and impose stringent fines on the owners when they come to claim their animals. In case of repeat offences, the punishment should be deterrent enough for them not to repeat it again," he said.

Stating that at one point of time, there were lots of stray animals roaming the streets, Saif said that with intensive campaign, however, these animals disappeared from the Dibba-Masafi road.

"They are back now on the roads, necessitating the intervention of the municipality again to control the stray animals and save the lives of the people using the roads," he said.

Mohammad Saeed Rashid, a resident of Fujairah who works in Sharjah, said: "We have to deal with this problem on a daily basis, and it is worse during the mornings when fog reduces visibility to a few metres ahead. And if we return home in the night, it is even worse."

Pointing out that every few days they come across a wrecked car on the roads, he said that this, however, does not evoke any response from the authorities. "At times, after a major accident, we see compliance with the law for a few days, but things return to normal after a while with the stray animals again making their appearance on the streets," he added.

Engineer Rashid Hamdan, Director of Fujairah Municipality, however, believes that failure on the part of a few owners to comply with the law does not mean that the problem had turned into a major menace. "It's just the mistakes committed by some people who are not aware of the importance of keeping their animals safe and under their control, and not allow them to stray on to roads and streets because it endangers the lives of people," he added.