Family seek home for 'gentle and playful' dog found abandoned in desert

Saluki mix believed to be about a year old was spotted alone several times before being rescued

A family saved the dog, a Saluki mix, after spotting her several times wandering alone in the desert in Abu Dhabi. Cristina Marinelli

A dog believed to have been abandoned in the Abu Dhabi desert is looking for a forever family.

The Saluki mix was found wandering alone by dune bashers at the weekend.

The dog, thought to be about a year old, was first spotted weeks ago by Cristina Marinelli and her family. They visit the same spot in Al Khatim every Friday.

Ms Marinelli said she assumed the dog, who they called Ariel, had an owner who was nearby, so they did not take her home at the time.

"I remember we were having a Christmas party with another family. She just ran up. She saw the car and ran for kilometres," said Ms Marinelli, 36, who has two daughters, aged 7 and 3, and is from Italy.

“She was just hanging around with us and she was lovely with the children, so playful.”

A rescued Saluki mix dog from the desert with the Marinelli/Wagner family at Al Zeina. Kyle Wagner with daughters, Giulia, 3, and Sophia, 7, with dog, Ariel. Victor Besa / The National

They spotted her for a second time during a visit to the area weeks later.

“She followed us for kilometres. She would literally run after our car to be with us. I guess she was looking for an owner or someone to take care of her,” she said.

“My daughters got really sad. Every time we saw her she was getting skinnier.”

They vowed not to leave her behind if they saw her again, which happened on Friday, when they brought her home with them.

“We said let’s not take her to a shelter, because we didn’t know what would happen. So we took her home,” said Ms Marinelli.

The family is not in a position to keep her permanently, but will look after the "gentle and playful" pup until they find her a good home.

“We would really love a family with kids to take her because she loves children and I think she would make another family so happy,” said Ms Marinelli.

“It looks like she was part of a family before and was most likely abandoned."

The dog, who does not have a microchip, is underweight. The vet said she was probably a stray or was abandoned, given her condition.

Ms Marinelli believes the dog was abandoned because she is comfortable and affectionate with people, particularly children, and appears to be house trained.

Susan Aylott, a vet and partner in Animalia, a veterinary clinic in Al Bateen, said the family did the right thing by bringing the dog home with them.

"If stray dogs have a food source or they are used to being fed, there is something going wrong there," she said.

The clinic reported a surge in people abandoning their animals recently.

“We are seeing not just dogs, but cats and rabbits," said Ms Aylott.

“We are receiving seven phone calls a week saying: can you come and take my dog, cat or rabbit? Because they no longer want it.

“Abandonment is against the law because it is against animal welfare. But the problem is it is hard to implement. How do you prove it?”