Blue-collar worker was supposed to look after the animals, which belonged to his boss
After yet another shocking incident of animal cruelty, a member from the Sharjah royal family has stepped in to save two dogs tied up in the heat.
Earlier this morning, the Stray Dog Centre UAQ (SDC-UAQ) received an alert on a Whatsapp group about two dogs being neglected. Immediately a volunteer of SDC-UAQ reached the area in Sharjah’s Sajaa industrial area to find two dogs- a Black Shepherd and a German Shepherd- who had been tied up with no food and water.
“The caretaker of the dogs was a blue-collar employee,” said Amirah William, founder of SDC-UAQ. “The dog belonged to his boss, and he absolutely refused to hand over the dog to our volunteer. That is when I reached out to a member of the royal family for help.”
Once William reached out, the royal family member arranged for the concerned authorities to get in touch with the employer, who was the owner of the dogs.
“The owner was heartbroken to find his dogs being ill-treated like this,” she said. “He had left the dogs in the care of this employee but had never imagined that they would be treated like this.”
According to her, the royal family member has been in touch with the owner and is overseeing the welfare of the dogs.
This is the second incident this week where members of the royal family have stepped in following bad treatment of pets. On Monday, a locked-out husky was rescued from a Dubai balcony after his plight went viral. Members of Dubai’s royal family coordinated with the municipality and police to ensure that the animal was saved.
William warned the pet owners to only leave their pets with licensed boarding facilities or pet sitters to avoid such undesirable consequences.
“People might leave their pets with their employees or neighbours to save a few bucks,” she said. “However, these could be dangerous and have fatal consequences.”
She also thanked the community and authorities for their swift reaction. “It is heartening to see that the larger community is notifying us of such incidents,” she said. “Also, the cooperation of authorities has been amazing. The more people that are held accountable for their actions, the less likely pet owners will be to break the law.”
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Last week, an abandoned dog that was beaten, abused, overbred, and starved was adopted by Olympian Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum after her plight was shared on social media.
Nasreen Abdulla is a Special Correspondent covering food, tech and human interest stories. When not challenged by deadlines, you’ll find her pulling off submissions on the jiu jitsu mats.