Sarah Barlett and Bonnie, a two-year-old homeless German Shepherd. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
Sarah Barlett and Bonnie, a two-year-old homeless German Shepherd. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

Abu Dhabi PR boss devoted to rescuing the city’s animals in need



By day Sarah Bartlett is the managing director of the global public relations firm Weber Shandwick’s Abu Dhabi office. But after hours she devotes herself to work of a different kind – as a volunteer with the charity Animal Action UAE.

For the past two years, Ms Bartlett, 39, has given up her free time to improving the plight of the city’s rescue animals. She is also studying a mini-MBA and learning to become a chartered company director.

“My day includes giving strategic reputation management advice to clients, business financial planning, liaising with organisations who approach us for support and ensuring that my team of 20 have the physical and mental support needed to do their job, which can be pressured and stressful as our industry never switches off,” says Ms Bartlett. “I am on call 24/7, at weekends, too.”

But while her job is demanding, so is her passion outside of work.

A typical day starts with catching up with what happened overnight at Animal Action UAE via Facebook, before she rolls up to her TwoFour54 office at 9am.

Ms Bartlett’s lunchtimes are spent at her desk on the Animal Action UAE Facebook group, with a sandwich in one hand and tapping out advertisement copy and updates with the other hand.

She clocks off work between 6pm and 8pm and heads to the Australian Veterinary Hospital in Khalifa City, to visit some of the charity’s rescued animals. The organisation has a front line team of seven women with a further 200 volunteers across the UAE involved in their foster network.

“Many of our animals are physically sick or injured through road traffic accidents, disease or starvation, or emotionally damaged, especially from abuse by humans,” says Ms Bartlett. “I psychologically evaluate them, help socialise them where needed and give them love and attention to assist their path to recovery and successful homing.”

Her role means she gets to see humanity at its best – “especially the selfless volunteers I work alongside and people who are willing to take on animals with substantial problems” – and at it’s worst – “I’ll never get used to the deliberate abuse we witness. Many of our animals are psychologically damaged.”

But there are joyful moments in her voluntary role, too. “Last autumn I took in a tiny paralysed kitten that we were advised to have put to sleep,” she recalls. “I was only supposed to have her for her final weekend on earth but she went from strength to strength, and was later adopted by an amazing couple on Reem Island.”

Ms Bartlett also walks the kennelled dogs in the evenings – a sweaty job at this time of year.

At home, she catches up on her studying, and gives her two pet cats, plus whichever foster animals are staying with her at the time, some TLC. “Last summer I had six cats in my apartment; two of my own plus a nursing mother and three kittens rescued from a warehouse in Dubai.”

Ms Bartlett has fostered 48 cats and three dogs in the nine years she’s been working for Weber Shandwick in Abu Dhabi.

At weekends, Ms Bartlett is busy with adoption days, offering support at fund-raising events, visits to animal foster homes or potential adoptive homes to assess their suitability, as well as more vet visits.

She admits her jam-packed routine does entail some personal sacrifices.

“I am currently single, and everyone tells me I’m probably destined to remain so if I keep spending so much time at the office and the vets!” she says.

“My parents and friends all think I’m slightly crazy, but they understand how much I gain in return. Not everyone gets to experience the kind of unconditional love that an animal gives out.

“The work I do for Animal Action UAE also means that as a single expatriate, I feel a tighter and more grounded connection to the society in which I have chosen to live.”

Ms Bartlett is in no doubt that her career complements her charity work, “in terms of understanding how to communicate with people, using social media to find supporters and raising awareness for the work we do”.

“I am extremely lucky that I have been able to combine my professional work with my passion.”

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Three-day coronation

Royal purification

The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.

The crown

Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.

The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.

The audience

On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.

The procession

The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.

Meet the people

On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
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Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law,  Ben Mendelsohn

4/5 stars

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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
The bio

Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district

Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school

Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family

His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people

Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned

Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200

7.05pm Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m

7.40pm Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m

8.15pm Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m

8.50pm Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 1,400m

9.25pm Handicap Dh175,000 (D) 2,000m

 

The National selections:

6.30pm Underwriter

7.05pm Rayig

7.40pm Torno Subito

8.15pm Talento Puma

8.50pm Etisalat

9.25pm Gundogdu

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MATCH INFO

Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')

Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')

Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers

1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.

PROFILE OF INVYGO

Started: 2018

Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo

Based: Dubai

Sector: Transport

Size: 9 employees

Investment: $1,275,000

Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

RESULTS

Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)

Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)

Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)

Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)

Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)

Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)

Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)

Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)

Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)

Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)

Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)