How to deal with animal abuse on the road

At first glance, you might think the owner is doing him good by allowing him to breathe fresh air and enjoy the sun. But if you look closely, the dog is petrified!

He has a prong around his neck and is tied up with a chain to the car leaving him little space to move and not even allowing him to sit. The dog was trying to pull himself inside the car of fear of falling. This is no humane way to take your dog on a ride, not to mention the prong collar! One false move and the dog is dead!

I could feel my blood rushing with heroic ideas on how to save the dog; I wanted to bump into them and release him, but we all know that’s not the sane way to do it. I felt helpless. I still do.

In case you spot similar cases on our roads in Lebanon, here’s what you can do:

• Stay calm. Losing your head won’t help anybody; especially the dog
• Remember, this is a traffic violation and you CAN get the police involved if you do the right thing
• Call 112 – the internal security – and report the case as a traffic violation
• Focus on the traffic violation and not the dog, as our police take road security and safety violations very seriously
• Keep in mind that saving dogs is not within their scope of duty but they will do their best to keep the roads safe; the dog in a vehicle’s open area is considered a hazard. The dog might jump or fall and cause accidents/traffic
• Reporting such scenes to the police stressing on the law, will keep the dog in a safe place till the ride is over

After all it is up to us to provide our furry friends and family with a good environment. Our small actions will help them live a better/safer life. We just have to make the right decisions.