JEDDAH, 24 October 2004 — Earlier this month, staff arriving for the morning session at the Tahlia International Veterinary Clinic found a small terrier, apparently abandoned, at their doorstep. This one year-old puppy, still alive, had been seriously injured in what Dr. Deborah Zahid, the clinic’s owner, said was most likely a car accident. Though hardly an uncommon occurrence as dozens of animals get injured or killed on the Kingdom’s streets daily, what makes this little dog’s story stand out, is the fact that he was left untreated, with broken bones and muscles protruding from his leg through an open fracture, for at least six days.
“I don’t know for certain what happened to this dog, or who owns it, but it is unbelievable that someone would be so heartless as to leave it in this condition for so long. Judging from the rotten smell coming from the open wound, and the level of deterioration and decomposition of the exposed tissue and the onset of gangrene, as well as the general condition of the dog, it would be fair to say that he has been alive and in this condition for no less than six days,” Dr. Deborah told Arab News. “No attempt was made whatsoever to nurse the dog,” she continued.
According to Dr. Deborah, when an animal breaks a leg, its body, almost immediately produces adrenaline that helps numb the pain somewhat. Left untreated for six or seven hours, the animal will go into shock and then faint, thereby feeling no pain. “It is when the dog wakes up again that he really feels the horrendous pain. This pain goes on for quite some time, then the body automatically produces penicillin that helps numb the pain somewhat, but still, any movement brings back the agonizing pain.
“Imagine you broke your leg and the bone was sticking out through the skin, and you had to walk on it for six days without any medical care or pain killers. That is what this dog went through,” Dr. Deborah said.
“Had the owner or whoever found him, brought him in to us immediately, we would have been able to save the dog’s life either by mending the leg or amputating it. It didn’t need to suffer so much. It was too late for this dog and it had to be put to sleep,” she continued.
According to Dr. Deborah, the dog felt no pain as it was being put to sleep. “Fortunately we have the right drugs to put animals to sleep painlessly. However they are expensive and hard to get in Saudi Arabia. A common practice at one Jeddah zoo, for example, is to inject the animals with rat poison, which is cruel and extremely painful. The animals die a slow, agonizing death.”
Islam strictly forbids such treatment of animals.
