They say that a picture speaks a thousand words.
In this case, this picture rendered me speechless.
I was unable to write anything about itall day today, and I still feel that no matter how much I try,
whatever I say or write will not do it justice.

This Boxer belonged to a man apparently wealthy enough to build himself a villa in the Roumieh area,
buy himself seven dogs (Dobermans, a pointer and a boxer) to guard it, as well as hire a caretaker,
but apparently not wealthy enough to feed his dogs more than about 1/10th of what dogs their size need for their survival.

The caretaker was ordered to feed the dogs a diet of (50 grams) of ONLY bread and cheese and no dry food.

BETA members received a telephone call from a BETA volunteer,
telling the organization about an alarmingly skinny boxer apparently suffering from extreme malnutrition,
and chained outside the fenced villa, but not before two of his dogs (Dobermans) had already starved to death.

All seven dogs had been chained on short leashes for about two years,
and they had been there so they would bark if anyone were to approach the
property where, incidentally, no one has apparently ever lived.

Six dogs had been chained inside the fence (four Dobermans, including the
two who have already died from starvation, and a Pointer),
while the Boxer had been chained outside the villa.

The BETA volunteer had wanted to remove the dog in order for him to
receive veterinarian care, but the caretaker, a kind man who was only acting on his employers instructions,
said that the volunteer had to call the property owners sister,
because the owner was in London. The volunteer did call her, but the woman yelled at him,
forbade him to remove the dog and said that she would call a veterinarian herself.

An hour later, two BETA members went to the scene, in order for them to
see if a veterinarian had indeed come to check on the dog, but nothing had prepared them to
the condition that the dog was in.

A BETA member (who had seen many cases of suffering dogs in the worst shapes possible) said this was,
by far, the worst thing she had seen in her life.
When they arrived at the scene, the BETA members saw that the caretaker
was by the dogs side. He said that the dog was dying, but that a veterinarian had not come to see him.

The BETA member asked the caretaker to put the poor dog in her car,
but as the man tried to do so, the suffering Boxer gave his last breath. He died.
The dog had been in leaky wooden box, not even a proper dog house, and
he had suffered all kinds of bad weather possible: wind, rain, extreme heat and scalding sun;
no matter how harsh the weather, the living conditions of the villa owners seven dogs were never improved, in spite of the
cumulative effects of the extreme lack of care and starvation,
and regardless of the fact that this is a man who obviously has considerable financial means.

As an American who had not, until a number of weeks ago, returned to Lebanon, my country of origin,
for twenty years, I have to say that when I heard, upon my arrival, about the extent of animal cruelty in this country,
I remembered that I had experienced much cruelty myself when I had lived here as a child, and that was the reason why I had moved to the United States.
Many people in Lebanon talk about freedom, but they often like to suppress other peoples freedoms.
I am sad to say that I can see now how such people can chain animals for years.

I am not talking about people who are poor or uneducated;
I am talking about people who are well-off, even wealthy, or people who like to be portrayed in the Western press as humane.
It is now my opinion that it is important to experience things on a first-hand basis here in order to realize how deceitful some of
those assertions are. I shudder to think how some house pets are treated behind closed doors.

I had heard about starving dogs before and I can not help but think that this mans dogs suffered while no one was paying
attention, and were not able to talk about it. I can not even begin to imagine what things must have been like for them.

Three of his dogs have already died. Four are left, and they have suffered the
same treatment that the ones who have died received before their death.
They are still chained outside the mans villa.

Seeing BETA's efforts to stop this cruelty against animals in Lebanon is a relief for me,
just knowing that somebody cares and is taking action!
BETA members are currently working on taking direct action against this cruelty and bringing some sort of justice with their lawyer
Amani Kalaaj against all odds in a country like Lebanon.
Please help BETA to continue their Noble and remarkable work by donating to: www.betalebanon.org/donate.asp

I would like to keep my name anonymous for personal reasons but I asked BETA to send out this dispatch that
I felt I had to write because of my support for the hard work that they do.