'Max was defending me' owner of tortured dog tells TV show

EGYPT -- The owner of a dog brutally tortured and killed in a video that went viral on a number of social networks told a Cairo TV station the dog had previously bitten his abusers, but that the animal was defending his owner.

“Max was a kind and obedient dog,” Mohamed el-Sayed told the Dream TV Channel Wednesday. He said he bought the dog a year ago, and although it was not licensed “it was a well trained, lovely dog who never harmed anyone.”

Footage was released Wednesday of men after they had leashed the dog to a pole stabbing it to death on Sunday, while a crowd looked on, with many recording the incident. Those who killed the animal had been bitten in an incident more than four months ago, Sayed told Youm7.

In Sayed’s neighborhood in Al-Ahram St. in Shubra el-Kheema, he was involved in a fight, and a crowd of men had gathered with the intent to assault him, he said.

“I released the dog just to scare them away from me, and then called [the dog] back,” he added. He said that the men returned back and caught him, at that point, the dog “could not bear anyone harm me and bit eight of them.

Sayed left his home after the accident after a police report was filed against him. “I was afraid the police might come and arrest me.”

He returned back Jan. 7 and filed a police report against the men from his neighborhood after they assaulted his sister in revenge. Then, a reconciliation meeting between him and the other men was set with one condition: that the dog be killed.

“I tried to convince them to rethink their decision and not harm the dog, but they refused to relent,” Sayed said as he failed to hold his tears in phone call with the TV channel. Sayed added “I could not give them the dog myself; my friend did.”

The video has outraged social media users against the brutal slaying, with a trending hashtag launched in solidarity with the dog #Dog_Of_Alahram_Street.

 Some shared versus of Quran that orders animal welfare, others called on the government to bring the killers to justice.

The Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals (ESMA) condemned the incident and filed a police report against the killers of the Ahram Street dog.

Mona Khalil, a founder member of ESMA told The Cairo Post that there will be a protest on Saturday near Cairo Opera House against the killing.

Similar outrageous evolved in social media last year after pictures of a dog found seriously injured and dozens of dead stray cats found in the street in two separate incidents.

Two men from the video were reported arrested Thursday.

(The Cairo Post - Feb 26, 2015)

Earlier:

• Dog tortured to death in Egypt; it was revenge act on the dog owner
• Three Arrested For Brutal Killing Of Dog In Egypt