A missing mutt alert turned into a social media storm after a photograph of a naturally-skinny saluki prompted a wave of bombastic, barbed criticism over its body image.
Some angry animal lovers even called on anyone who spotted the dainty dog to refuse to answer the plea for its return, much to the alarm of owner Ahmed Ayoob.
“Every time they see a saluki they think it’s malnourished or underfed, but this is like a standard feature as they are extra thin. You can see the ribcage and you can see the hip bones, but they are very healthy animals,” farmer Mr Ayoob told the GDN.
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The farmer hopes something positive can result from the incident and that people will better educate themselves about the breed although he remains worried the comments may result him never seeing his beloved saluki again.
“I’m not married, I don’t have kids and my life is dedicated to looking after my dogs,” added Mr Ayoob.
“It hurt to read people make these assumptions about my dog, saying that she’s not looked after, she’s malnourished and that if she is found she shouldn’t be returned to me. It is ignorance and it has a racist undercurrent to it in my opinion,” he said.
“However, I think a lot of the comments came from a good place, just people being dog lovers but making the wrong assumptions.
“I think there’s some ingrained prejudice that they assume that local people don’t take care of their dogs and they are not as vigilant when it comes to looking after them as some foreigners.
“I noticed this every time there is something to do with a local and a Saluki, there are always offensive attitudes.
“Unfortunately many expatriates are not familiar with the breed.”
His post appealing for people to look for missing saluki Babya appeared on the Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (BSPCA) Facebook page.
The comment section got so heated that it had to be edited and disabled.
Six-year-old Babya was lost on Nourana beach last weekend and Mr Ayoob, 38, believes she was most likely taken by someone who thought she was by herself.
- If anyone spots her, Mr Ayoob can be contacted on 36600484.
ghazi@gdn.com.bh
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