An Arabian Red Fox spotted on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Via Project Noah
He thought he was doing a good deed but it turns out a man in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) mistook a fox for a dog. The Arabian fox was caught and brought to the shelter and surprised the staff who posted on their social account:
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Caretaker: Madam I catch dog in trap
Me: So cute but that’s not a dog!
Caretaker: But he small maybe puppy
Me: Not a dog he’s a fox
Caretaker: ???
Me: Release him ???
Now we know whose eating the food we put out every night for the illusive, roaming desert dog ??? Cats oh and now foxes ???
The incident took place at the Stray Dogs Center, a long-running animal shelter based in UAE emirate Umm Al Quwain. The shelter shared a video of the unwilling fox (see above) who didn’t need help but who was happy for a free meal.
One commenter noted that wild animals should be brought to the Sharjah Wild Arabian Animals Center, in Sharjah where they have a breeding and conservation program.
Another said, “It is a pleasant surprise to see real wildlife which is extremely rare in the ever expanding city [Dubai}.”
Sadly, another local had seen foxes too but the outcome wasn’t good: “Is he skinny or in good health? Poor foxy, I saw a few at the mangroves in Abu Dhabi and by the time the entity responded to save them they went and found them dead. We were too late.”
Wild and stray animals need our help in the UAE, and all over the Middle East and the world. But in different ways. Here are a few ways you can help the animals.
Helping stray animals
There are sad stories in the Middle East:
A Palestinian mayor offered $6 for every dead dog brought to City Hall, and sadly animal abuse, neglect and lack of education about animals is lacking in the Middle East. Faisel, reporting from Jordan wrote sad story after sad story about what happens there. It’s not uncommon in Israel for people to adopt a dog one day and then leave him on the side of the road if it doesn’t work out.
Luckily there is a growing number of shelters available if you can find them. See Diana’s Dogs in Bethlehem.
Domesticated animals and abused farm animals need shelter, loving homes and farms. There are shelters globally that help rehome stray cats and dogs. If you can’t adopt, consider volunteering to help the animals or offer donations. Money is always needed and vets and staff at these shelters are notoriously underpaid and overworked.
Helping Wild Animals
While it’s in vogue with princes, kings and sheikhs in the Middle East who can be found walking cheetahs on a leash (Dubai Porsche driver walks cheetah on a leash) or hanging out with them in their cars, wild pets should never be kept as pets.
The Abu Dhabi Zoo for instance has been accused of smuggling in wild animals and it’s also known that many of the animal traffickers smuggling animals from Africa make their way to the Middle East:
Live Baby Leopard Found in Suitcase En Route to Dubai
Injured Cheetah Discovered on the Streets of Abu Dhabi
Don’t buy a wild animal. Rehome a dog or a cat. If you find an injured wild animal or bird bring it to a local wildlife animal hospital.
Common sense also says that wild animals not be fed as it encourages the animals to fraternize with people. We learn this from Canadians who avoid feeding bears at all cost.
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