Posted on 11/25/2005 7:49:45 AM PST by Fawn
GODE, Ethiopia
U.S. troops found two cheetah cubs _ one of them blinded _ being forced to fight each other for the amusement of jeering children in this dusty, forgotten village.
The soldiers of the U.S. counterterrorism task force for the Horn of Africa were in the region carrying out humanitarian work when they came across the three-month-old cheetahs "performing" at a restaurant run by Mohamed Hudle. The Djibouti-based task force provides intelligence-gathering help to countries in the region, tries to bolster cooperation and border protection, and mounts humanitarian projects aimed at improving the U.S. military's image among Muslims.
The troops provided medical treatment to the blinded cub, fed them both and tried to persuade Mohamed to hand them over to wildlife officials. They contacted U.S.-based cheetah experts as well as Ethiopian authorities.
U.S. military officials refused to discuss the animal rights turn their hearts and minds campaign took in Gode. But Befekadu Refera, an official of the Environmental Protection Agency in the capital, Addis Ababa, confirmed the U.S. military had contacted his agency about the cubs and even offered to fly the pair to Addis Ababa, 684 miles away for care.
The cheetah is endangered because of loss of habitat, poaching and other factors, according to the international Cheetah Conservation Fund.
In Gode Wednesday, the rescue appeared to have hit a snag.
"I don't see why I should hand them over," Mohamed said. "When I was younger I looked after goats and camels, so I know what animals need."
Mohamed said he would only give up the cheetahs if he was paid $1,000 for each cub _ 10 times the average income in this impoverished Horn of Africa nation with an estimated 77 million people.
His sons, 4-year-old Abraham and 2-year-old Nur, pulled the cubs' tails and dragged them around their sun-parched yard by ropes tied tightly to their necks. Other children followed, poking and teasing the frightened cats.
Mohamed, 43, said he bought the cubs from poachers and he does not know what happened to the mother. The poachers had kicked the female cub in the face, blinding the animal, he said.
Keeping wild animals is illegal without a special license, but Ethiopia's wildlife laws are rarely enforced. Mohamed also has a hawk with a broken wing and three scrawny baby ostriches.
Deputy Wildlife Minister Ahmed Nisir has sent officials to try to secure the cheetahs' release and a government vet is expected to visit Saturday.
"Unless these cubs are properly looked after and cared for they will soon die," said Befekadu of the Environmental Protection Agency.
If they are brought to the capital, Befekadu said, they would be cared for on the large grounds of the National Palace, home to several Abyssinian lions rescued by former Emperor Haile Selassie.
I'll admit that I've abused Cheetos.
Precious babies. How could anyone treat them so?
Where's PETA when they are actually needed???????????
Wonder if our military is rounding up all the stray cats, or just the ones they like...
Now are we sure that our troops and Bush are not responsible for their abuse? A major investigation is neccessary.
A 9mm each for Mo & Abe & Nur, burn the restaurant, and take the animals into 'protective custody'.
Poor kitties!
How could people blow themselves up to murder other people?
Not exactly cats or dogs, but I thought people on your ping lists might be interested in this story.
It's a cliffhanger, the rataurant owner, Mohamed, in Gode, Ethiopia, who abused them in the first place doesn't want to give them up.
They're at home eating tofurkey left overs.
What a sad and disturbing picture. We reveal ourselves and our character in how we treat the small and the innocent.
Good idea!
Maybe get the kids outta there and out of the habit of molesting innocent animals,before they become serial killers.
"I don't see why I should hand them over," Mohamed said. "When I was younger I looked after goats and camels, so I know what animals need."
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I guess to them abusing animals is "normal".
It's things like this that tell you that most of Sub-Saharan Africa is years, if not generations away from civilized existance. Two abused cheetah cubs, reprehensible as it may be, is not the most serious issue in the region, but it paints a portrait of the general lack of respect for life in the area. The children learn it from a very young age, and as long as these types of things are not just tolerated, but instilled into the people of Africa, they will continue to live in horrible conditions, die by the thousands from disease and war, and generally be a thorn in the side of the rest of the civilized world.
Does any good news ever come from over there? I hope this story get the happy ending it deserves.
I say just walk up to his "establishment",put a gun to his forehead and tell him the kitties are leaving...just like that.What a piece of garbage.
Someone else on this thread asked where PETA is....
Hell,they've got more important things to worry about,like traumatizing small children into thinking their parents are bloodthirsty killers.
For that matter, just about any foreign country you name will bring you to tears when you see how animals are treated there. All thses years later I cannot forget the blinded, starving, three-legged stray dog I saw desperately looking for garbage in an empty lot in Madrid while the locals walked by, uncaring. I cannot forget the starving kittens begging for food outside a restaurant in the Azores while people walked by and one kid tormented them as they mewed pitiously. A friend had to stop me from beating the crap out of one guy and remind me what a Portugese prison would be like. I can't forget the starving dogs staggering down the street in Cavite City, The Phillipines while people ignored them.
The rest of the world is largely a hell hole of cruelty and neglect. No one should be allowed to vote in the USA until they've spent at least six months overseas.
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