AMMAN — Although
known only to few, Abu Laila, a sanitation worker, is keeper and caretaker to
half-a-dozen or more local Canaan dogs residing on the outskirts of Amman.
اضافة اعلان
Abu Laila has
worked in the Bader Al-Jadidah area for over 20 years, making friends not only
with the residents, but also the animals dwelling there. He told
Jordan News that with time, friends from the neighborhood become like family and believes
that the Canaan dogs who follow him everywhere have become his responsibility.
Canaan dogs are
a staple of Jordan. The ancient breed was historically used by Bedouins to
guard their camps. But today, many of those dogs are strays that hunt for
scraps around Amman and other cities.
Abu Laila
shares what little income he has with the dogs. Sometimes he collects chicken
and bones leftover from butcher shops; other times he buys tuna cans or cooked
meat, to share with the canines. Many
times, the shop owners join, bringing with them hot tea.
“A few years back, I was doing my job cleaning
the streets when a reckless driver hit one of the dogs and simply took off. As
heartless as the driver was, the car behind the hit-and-run stopped, and out
came a lady who carried the badly injured dog in her car, heading to the
nearest veterinarian clinic,” Abu Laila recalled.
Later, the same
woman told him that the animal was safe, and that she adopted it.
“Sadly in our culture it’s not common to show
affection to homeless animals especially cats and dogs,” Abu Laila said. “Some
mistake affection with weakness, forgetting that these creatures are God’s
creation as well,” he explained.
The dogs wait
for him every morning at the spot where his cab drops him off, and together
they walk along, pursuing the area where he works.
“I look in
their eyes and feel that each dog has a story, just like us, humans, and incredibly,
each one has an independent personality – God is truly great.”
As a child, Abu
Laila never had a dog, or any sort of pet. But he always felt sympathetic
towards all the helpless and peaceful animals.
While the
Jordan
News was interviewing Abu Laila, two shop owners approached to speak
affectionately about what the cleaner taught them about loving animals. One
said that Abu Laila “is indeed a rare man to find.”
A father to
four daughters, and soon to be a grandfather for the first time, Abu Laila
vowed to teach his grandchild to be kind to all creatures, especially vulnerable
animals. He believes that “in teaching animal love, I am actually teaching to
cherish life.”
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National News
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