DUBAI // A young dog in need of an urgent heart operation died after a campaign to get him flown to the UK for surgery failed because of restrictions on the weight of dogs allowed to fly.
Sean de la Harpe-Parker, who gave five-month-old golden retriever Archie a home after he was abandoned by a previous owner, had found a surgeon willing to perform the rare operation in England.
The cost of the surgery and flights, at about Dh90,000, had been covered but the sticking point proved to be airline restrictions on weight of dogs allowed to be transported in the cabin, where Archie needed to be to get oxygen for the duration of the flight.
Sadly, while negotiations with airlines were ongoing, Archie’s health took a turn for the worse and he was put to sleep by a vet on Monday.
“Archie just didn’t have it in him any more,” said Sean, a South African who works at My Second Home, a pet hotel in Dubai Investments Park.
“He was struggling to breathe so we put him on oxygen. We hoped it would help him recover to a certain degree so we could transport him but, unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
“I had to make the call, as he was struggling. I took him to the vet, who helped him along.”
Sean has been overwhelmed with support from people across Dubai, mostly from strangers who wanted to help with ideas on how to save Archie.
The biggest barrier he faced was with airlines unwilling to relax the weight limits on cabin weight for dogs. Animals over 8kg are allowed only in cargo, and Archie would not have survived had he travelled because of his need for oxygen.
A lack of qualified animal cardiac surgeons in the UAE also proved a problem.
Sean is now looking at how dogs facing emergency surgery in the UAE can be given help quicker, and is talking to airlines to see how pets can be treated more like human beings and accommodated on flights.
“If we had him diagnosed earlier or if we had operated on him in the UAE, he would probably have survived,” he said.
“All of Dubai came together but it was the red tape in regards getting him on to a flight that proved the biggest problem.
“We would like to see carriers relax their rules on transporting emergency cargo. Archie and I had a special bond, I’ve never connected with an animal like that before.
“His story brought everyone together and showed there is a huge dog-loving community here. It also shows there is a weakness in getting dogs emergency help when it’s needed.”
nwebster@thenational.ae
