Lioness escaped from owner house:DUBAI A lioness was reported on the loose in Dubai’s Al Barsha neighbourhood on Thursday evening.The lioness is believed to have escaped from its owner’s home in the area.Police said they received phone calls from concerned residents who spotted the animal at around 7pm.“We’ve received phone calls about the incident. An emergency dispatch unit from the Dubai Municipality’s animal-welfare unit was sent to the scene,” a police spokesperson said.
Bystanders said they saw members of the animal-welfare unit sedate the animal and remove it in a caged vehicle.The area was closed to traffic by police during the incident.Dubai Municipality said the lion was moved Friday morning to Dubai Zoo, where it will be cared for by veterinarians.
Lioness escaped from owner house, roams streets in Dubai
The young cat was rescued and taken to the Dubai Zoo, but was said to be in a shock and even “possibly missing the canine teeth”, a wildlife specialist with the Dubai Municipality told Gulf News.
Dubai authorities had shared a photo of the lioness on their Twitter page on Thursday. No one was injured in the incident, reports said.
Police authorities found that the lioness belonged to an owner who lived in a villa in the area. It is illegal to keep big cats as pets in Dubai, and keeping certain wild animals requires permits.
Local media have reported increasing cases of big animals spotted in Dubai with their owners, sometimes even in cars, despite a punishment of six-month imprisonment and a Dh50,000 fine.
“This is a common practice in this region and the authorities should do more to stop this dangerous and inhumane trend. It puts both humans and animals at risk for obvious reasons,” Mahin Bahrami, co-founder of Middle East Animal Foundation, was quoted as saying.
Dubai Municipality controls & confiscates an escaped lion from Al Barsha & Dubai Police are currently investigating pic.twitter.com/eQbwXg43OR
— بلدية دبي (@DMunicipality) January 21, 2016