DUBAI // The foul smell from next door was bad enough, but when their homes became covered in bird feathers the residents of Al Barsha 2 decided something had to be done about their “Dr Dolittle” neighbour.
So they called in a municipality inspector, who found a collection of ducks, pigeons, geese, peacocks and turkeys – and a gazelle – in the man’s back yard.
A?A, 43, an Emirati, ignored several warnings to move the creatures and even defied an attempt to do so by the police.
“A police patrol accompanied us to the villa but the owner refused to open the door,” a municipality employee told the Misdemeanours Court.
The man told police he had been raising animals in his back yard for the past seven years, and insisted he took care of them and kept the place clean.
In court, where he was fined Dh1,000 for causing a health hazard, he said he was surprised he had been charged.
“An inspector came to my house and he was satisfied with the safety and cleanliness of the place,” he said.
salamir@thenational.ae
