UMLUJ, 14 March 2006 — Imagine the shock when Abdul Rahman Al-Juhani and family members went to a cemetery in this quiet northwest coastal town to bury a loved one only to discover, to their horror, the bones and shrouds of the dead strewn all about. The culprits of this desecration, say residents, are feral dogs.
“Not only that, but there were also children playing inside the cemetery,” said Al-Juhani. “I don’t blame the kids because they’re not responsible for their actions. I put the blame on the municipality for not assigning a guard at the cemetery and leaving the door open for wild animals.”
The people of Umluj are calling on municipal authorities to do something about this problem in the town’s main cemetery, located near a fish market.
Suleiman Al-Hujori, a resident of Umluj, said that the dignity of the dead is being violated. “These wild dogs prey on dead bodies,” he said. “They dig bodies and bones out of graves and eat them. We want the municipality to put an end to this problem.”
Al-Madinah newspaper toured the cemetery and confirmed that there is no guard present. Inside the cemetery there were children playing and some were running after feral dogs. Al-Madinah reported that it tried to contact the municipality to no avail.
