Parking disputes are becoming life-threatening. In thelast five years, we have been reading stories about fights over parking that ledto deaths. Recently, an incident occurred in Kuwait where a lion was used as aweapon. A Kuwaiti decided to end a quarrel with his neighbor over a parking lotin a very dangerous way by bringing the wild animal to have the final word.
The neighbor had objected that his parking space wasoccupied by his neighbor’s guests in front of his house on a daily basis, andafter a heated verbal argument, one of the men brought his lion to scare hisneighbor! The neighbor was forced to hide in his car in fear of his life untilsome people managed to calm the owner of the lion and took him away.
This incident may be seem funny to some, but it reflectsthe fact that there are people who may commit criminal acts over parking.
Raising predators in homes is a strange phenomenon and noless dangerous than having weapons and ammunition at home. Another incidentoccurred in 2013, when a citizen found a lion roaming in the street after escapingfrom its owner’s house. The man called the police and a veterinarian wasbrought to deal with the situation. It was said that its owner was about tosell the lion to another person, but they had an argument and the beast got achance to escape.
The presence of predators in the possession of some peoplewho cannot tame them may be a symbol of wealth and dominance, but I think this isdangerous because it may attack them or get out on the street at any time andkill innocent people. It is necessary to stop those who keep predators as pets.
In 2014, a Filipina helper was killed in Kuwait by a lionin the house of her sponsor, who told security authorities she was bitten by adog. But her injuries said something else and showed that the death was due to alion’s bite. Officials must stop those who acquire predators and punish anyonewho owns them with imprisonment and a fine. People’s lives are not cheap andnot games to play with.
It is really odd to see some people taking these animalswith them in their cars to show off in front of people, which can causeuncontrollable disasters, especially since predators are difficult to controlif attacked by pedestrians on the street. I believe the state must monitor thesepeople and impound the animals.
This article was not meant to list the crimes or sad incidents that have occurred due to disputes over parking, but the lesson is that some people do not hesitate to use a weapon to harm others, whether it is a predator or a gun. Eventually, one will go to prison and the other will get injured, if not killed.
By Muna Al-Fuzai
muna@kuwaittimes.net