UAE: Dog owner reunites with missing pet, pays reward

A dog owner has been reunited with her missing pet after paying a Dh1,000 reward.

Dubai-based lawyer Ria Sodhi was devastated after her beloved Maltese, called Cuddles, went missing in Umm Suqeim on November 4. Cuddles was last seen the next day morning nearly 30 kilometres away in Al Twar.

In a desperate bid to find Cuddles, Sodhi had stuck missing dog fliers at Al Twar and also taken to social media platforms, urging the public to share any information about her dog's whereabouts.

The story of the missing pet was reported by Khaleej Times.

She also offered a Dh1,000 reward, which was eventually increased to Dh6,000.

On Saturday evening, Sodhi received a call she had been waiting for almost 10 days.

An Arab man had found Cuddles and called up Sodhi to claim the reward.

“I had been getting a lot of calls lately, so I thought it was one of those false alarms. However, my heart skipped a beat when the man said he is calling from Al Twar and asked me to check some images he had shared via a mobile messaging application. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief as I looked at them. They were photographs of our Cuddles,” recalled the overjoyed Indian expatriate.

Sodhi said she and her mum immediately drove down to Al Twar and brought back Cuddles after paying Dh1,000 in cash to the man who found him.

‘That’s what he asked for during the phone call,” said Sodhi. “The man said he found Cuddles at Al Twar-1 near a park with a plastic bag that contained canine food and a pet grooming receipt,” she added.

Sodhi said she’s thankful to Khaleej Times for reporting Cuddles’ story and to all those individuals who helped her reunite with the pet.

‘Words will not be able to express how happy I am to have my baby back,” she said in an Instagram post.

mazhar@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai