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04 September, 2007

A spotted cat story

A man who ran a small antiquities shop in the UAE decided to support the Arabian Leopard Trust by putting up one of their stickers on his shop door.

A couple of days later, an Afghani staggered in lugging a great sack over his shoulders. He opened it up and brought out a freshly slain leopard skin.

"You buy?" he asked the antiquities seller.

"No I bloody don't, get that out of here," the shopkeeper told him.

The Afghani man looked puzzled. He pointed at his leopard skin, then pointed at the leopard picture on the Arabian Leopard Trust sticker, then back at his leopard skin. "You buy?" he repeated.

After he finally got rid of the Afghani, the antiquities seller took down the sticker and has not replaced it.

Labels: ,

25 Comments:

Blogger Bravecat said...

Poor cat...

Why didn't the guy phone the police?? Isn't it prohibited to kill leopards and sell their skins in UAE? I sure hope it is.

04 September, 2007 16:17  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"freshly slain leopard skin."

Are there leopards in UAE?

04 September, 2007 21:44  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry to question you, but are you sure you are not making this story up?

05 September, 2007 01:27  
Blogger JT Sullivan said...

First, the dealer should've hauled his rear end to the nearest Wild Life Endangerment joint.

Second, they should've put up stickers in a language this man and his likes could comprehend.

Third, put up another multilingual sticker citing prosecution for endangering protected species.

I can visualize the 'You buy?' conversation. Must have been hilarious and tormenting at the same time.

05 September, 2007 08:00  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this misunderstanding would actually be funny if the subject wasnt so tragic.

05 September, 2007 09:08  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Guess that leopard (shop-keeper) had to change his spots (rosettes??). Wonder what the other dude would do if he saw this sign in a pet shop: "Loving dog; looking for good home, seeks nice and affectionate owner. Needs to be spayed!!".

05 September, 2007 11:43  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Typical is'nt it?
Everybody wants to suport something, but if its getting troubles... oh no, than the sticker is going off.
What a brave man...

06 September, 2007 00:44  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let's hope the Afghani guy does not see a picture of a person on the door next time, although I value the Arabian leopard more than any homo sapien.

Peace.

06 September, 2007 09:24  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sd
your blog has become quite boring.
you;ve just become a typical agenda driven, cause totting expat.
ho hum.
and blog more often please.

06 September, 2007 17:18  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Second time you refuse my comment, last time i post something here.
Guess you're the only one who can have freedom of speech.

07 September, 2007 00:44  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My dad worked in Sierra Leone in the early 60s and said, as many people couldn't read, canned food had a picture of whatever was in the can on the front, one day they sent the houseboy out to by tinned (imported) baby food and the poor man was traumatised for weeks by the picture of the smiling baby on the can! Maybe this is a similar misunderstanding ;-)

07 September, 2007 11:12  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i wonder what the afghani would do if he saw the signs on public toilet or the sign for handicapped parking...but some how methinks your story is apocryphal.

08 September, 2007 00:48  
Blogger Sam Ticker said...

The Arabian Leopard is very endangered and does live in the UAE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Leopard

08 September, 2007 19:38  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

EK Radhakrishnan

08 September, 2007 20:04  
Blogger human said...

very good blog

08 September, 2007 21:07  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's the source for this blog entry?

We didn't read about it the press and neither was it mentioned in the radio!

U mix fact with fiction sometimes.

08 September, 2007 22:54  
Blogger The Rainmaker said...

I'll buy it....i love leopards man.

11 September, 2007 08:41  
Blogger Unknown said...

wikipedia: "shared space"

do u think something like this could work in UAE?

13 September, 2007 06:05  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

3 years for an anonymous comment by someone criticizing a hospital in Ras Al Khaimah.

From http://www.360east.com/:
"Over the past few days, Jordanian bloggers banded together to get a story of unbelievable negligence at the Prince Hamza Hospital to the light. First online. Then to newspapers and radio. Then to the government."
A similar story has not got a happy ending in the UAE, as the webmaster, Mohamed Al Shihi has been jailed for an anonymous comment by someone criticizing a hospital in Ras Al Khaimah.
From http://www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/2007/pr0904-2.shtml

Emirates: Asly released
Shouhi's release hampered down

Cairo, 4th September, 2007

Ras Kheima criminal court decided to free Mr.Khalid Al-Asly, Majan.net writer and Mr. Rashid Shouhi ,Majan's boss and to adjourn the court hearing to 10th September, this is the second case triggered by essays written on Majan.net, Mr.Asly is the main suspect while Mr.Shouhi is accused for being the head administrator of the Majan.net yet despite the decision to release Mr.Souhi , Ras Kheima court circuit head judge refused to implement the decision and kept Shouhi behind bars until his next appearance before the court.

Asly was freed after the prosecution failed to produce any evidence to prove that Asly wrote the alleged essay. Asly and Shouhi were released pending trail on 10th September while Shouhi will stand trail before the court of appeals on 9th September to challenge the sentence of one year imprisonment, shutting the website down, a fine and temporary compensation.

The ministry of health and the Ras Kheima medical district launched an investigation into corruption practices taking place in Ras Kheima .HRINFO hopes that this spirit would embrace the current prisoners of conscience or those vulnerable to be prosecuted for covering - in consistency with the right to political criticism- corruption practices".
Please show you are worth your salt and spread the word to get this decent man back with his family

14 September, 2007 10:34  
Blogger MuFi101 said...

WheR are ya SD

14 September, 2007 12:45  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not sure you'd read this, but here's an interesting take on the sex trade in Dubai

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/09/dubai_sex_for_s.html#

15 September, 2007 02:40  
Blogger awshubbar said...

ya we want a link, give us proof of this story!

17 September, 2007 04:36  
Blogger secretdubai said...

The proof is me, I met the guy personally. He could have been lying, but I don't think he was. It's not such an outrageous story or anything, just kind of funny and a bit sad.

17 September, 2007 04:42  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Off subject I know (and sorry in advance), but why don't more of the internet users in the UAE use a Virtual Private Network. Using a VPN means you can view anything and will no longer have to be frustrated by blocked websites (see for instance: 'UNBLOCK Sex & Dubai').

Go here for general info:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=using+a+vpn+to+bypass+etisalat

Or for the details:
http://www.hotspotvpn.com/whatisavpn.asp?mm=2

17 September, 2007 21:36  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why do i get the feeling, this last post: 'UNBLOCK Sex & Dubai, was written by a man? ;)

19 September, 2007 03:47  

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