Stray dog in Lebanon found carrying newborn baby girl in trash bag

Sparking shock across Lebanon, a stray dog was found Wednesday carrying a newborn baby girl – believed to be only a few hours old – in a trash bag through the streets of Tripoli.

A passerby heard a baby’s cries and managed to take the bag from the dog. The infant was found with bruises all over her body.

She was taken to the Islamic Charity Hospital and subsequently transferred to the Tripoli Governmental Hospital after authorities were informed.

It’s still unclear when exactly the baby was abandoned. While not much is known about her, she was believed to have a serious but stable condition.

Incident Unlikely To Involve Syrian Refugees Or Economic Situation

Calling the incident disturbing, Ghassan Rifi, a journalist in Tripoli, said when someone wants to abandon their kids, they usually place them in front of a police station or an orphanage.

But the infant was found in an area considered extremely dangerous at night owing to the presence of a lot of stray dogs, he added.

“Is it possible that whoever dumped her wanted to get rid of her by letting the dogs eat her in this area infested with stray dogs?” Rifi mentioned.

The incident isn’t believed to have links with the Syrian refugee community, said Abdulrahman Darwish, a representative in Tripoli of the Union of Relief and Development Associations.

The case also doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the economic situation, as everyone is suffering but no one has ever dumped their newborn on a street full of stray dogs, he added.

Innumerable Lebanese Kids Facing Multidimensional Poverty

It comes just days after reports of physical abuse at a daycare centre in Mount Lebanon sparked fury among citizens across the impoverished nation.

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The incident surfaced after a cleaner at the facility filmed the abuse and passed the videos to parents. Arrest warrants were issued for an employee and owner of the business.

Compared to around 900,000 in 2019, some 1.8 million children in Lebanon are now facing multidimensional poverty, according to a report published by UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

In order to help their families make ends meet, the children could be forced into abuses, such as child marriage or child labour, the report pointed out.