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A RETIRED vet found himself on a busman's holiday when he came to Bahrain and found the kingdom's rescued dogs and cats were in need of a helping hand.
Muhammed Raza is visiting his son and daughter-in-law but, far from taking it easy and enjoying the sunshine, he has spent several days a week during his visit volunteering at the BSPCA rescue centre in Saar.
Indian Dr Raza, 69, is no stranger to working with animal charities.
He went to England as a young man and qualified as a veterinary surgeon in London in 1964 and, staying in his adopted land, he set about helping all manner of waifs and strays working with both the Blue Cross and the PDSA (formerly the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals).
After five years wife Khalida pushed him to set up his own practice and he did so, spending the next 35 years looking after animals in Manchester.
Dr Raza retired five years ago and thought that was the end of his dog days until he arrived in Bahrain a few weeks ago to visit his son Kamal.
Through a colleague of Kamal's Dr Raza heard about the BSPCA and decided to offer his services and since then his feet have hardly touched the ground with many days spent at the centre health checking the stray dogs and cats, administering vaccinations and carrying out various other procedures.
He said: "When my son's friend heard that I am a vet he said 'it's like a gift from God you're just what we need' and I am very pleased to be able to help. It's very different to the work I used to do at home, but animals are the same the world over and some of them need help. I have been very impressed with what I have seen here at the BSPCA but there is always a lot of work to do with so many animals coming in."
BSPCA spokeswoman Jo Bradley said: "Having Dr Raza here really has been the answer to our prayers, we have a new minor surgery and he went through all the equipment and drugs and told us what we needed to do to get it up and running.
"The number of animals needing rehoming is increasing so it has been a great help to have him here vaccinating and health checking as they come in, we're delighted to have him, he just have an air of calmness about him which the animals seem to recognise, I just wish we could keep him."
And Dr Raza is not the only good Samaritan stepping into the breach.
Christine Sanant, 29, is moving to the island permanently in September to join her husband, a Gulf Air pilot.
And when she does, the trained veterinary nurse will be putting her skills to good use at the BSPCA too.
On a brief trip to see husband Gautam she paid a visit to the Saar Centre and decided she would also get involved.
Christine has been working alongside Dr Raza but has now returned to the States to prepare for the move in September.
