You may have seen the story of the Emirati1 man in Dubai who uploaded a gruesome video showing a cat being fed to his hungry dogs. In the most arrogant and callous manner the man was filmed encouraging his two dogs to attack and kill the cat who was pulled from a cage.
The video clip was circulated widely on social media. It is one of those classic cases of a person who has lost his moral compass (if he had one) and sees nothing wrong in advertising to the world how callous and cruel he has been.
The response by the authorities was rapid, I am pleased to say. The Minister for Climate Change and Environment tweeted:
“Inflicting injury or malicious killing of animals is unaccepted and anyone in violation of Federal Law No 18, 2016 will be held accountable.”
The Minister further added that the man’s behaviour “do not comply [sic] with the teachings of Islam nor with the customs and values of the UAE”.
The Emirati man was tracked down and summarily punished under an order of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The order was made a day after the man and his two employees were arrested by Dubai police at a farm, we are told. I like the speed.
The punishment is very fitting. The three men were ordered to clean Dubai Zoo for four hours daily for the following 90 days. This is a community service punishment. The Dubai Media Office said:
“By orders of Mohammed Bin Rashid, the men involved in cat cruelty incident to clean Dubai zoo facilities for four hours daily for three month as community service because of their savage and cruel behaviour which is against our values and Islam that always encourages to be mercy on animals”. (This is quoted verbatim, and as you can see that the English is not perfect).
The ruler of Dubai is keen to protect Emirati values which emphasises mercy and rejects any form of violence, including against animals. The community service orders are a way for the men to serve society and raise awareness of how animal abuse is punished in the region.
Comment: I like the speedy reaction of the authorities. The speed is very impressive and the punishment fitting, as mentioned, but I have one personal criticism. I’d like the punishment to be more severe. But the advantage of this punishment is that it has been well publicised. This should be a genuine deterrent.
Note: 1 – a citizen of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Shar Kariffe, a normal person does not raise pet hamsters etc… to feed to their cat!