Jail for student who steals dogs and sets cage ablaze

The Emirati said he took the dogs because he wanted to take care of them but he denied burning their cage. However, he was convicted of theft and damaging property and was jailed for six months.

DUBAI // A student who stole two dogs worth Dh44,000 and set their cage at a villa on fire has been jailed for six months.

The 23-year-old Emirati was convicted by Dubai Criminal Court of stealing the two American Bully dogs and damaging property in Al Qusais on September 6 last year.

The owner of the dogs, a 24-year-old Emirati, called police after neighbours alerted him to a fire in his back garden.

“At nearly 1am, my neighbour called me saying there was a fire and that he saw a suspicious car near my house,” he said.

When he went to check the garden he found the dogs’ cage ablaze and the pets, which belonged to him and his brother, missing.

“My neighbour described the car for me and I knew who it belonged to, so I headed to his house and met with his father but only after I called police,” said the dog owner, adding that the defendant confessed to his father and to him that he broke open the villa’s back door before stealing the dogs and setting their cage on fire.

“He said he was sorry for what he did and told us the dogs were at his father’s farm, so I headed to the farm and took the dogs.”

During police investigations the student said he took the dogs because he wanted to take care of them but he denied burning their cage.

In court, he denied both charges but was found guilty.