womanthismonth.com | JUNE 2026 INTERVIEW 92 A Compassionate Mission Aamal Almoayyed discusses her lifelong commitment to animal welfare, the new Aamal Almoayyed Sanctuary for Animals and Bahrain’s urgent need for responsible pet ownership and adoption today. According to Ms. Amal, animal welfare has never been a passing interest, but rather a lifelong calling, rooted in childhood, family values and a deep belief that kindness towards animals is part of what defines us as human beings. “I have always been an animal lover, and I believe I inherited this compassion from my father,” she says. “I grew up watching his kindness towards animals. He had a dog that followed him everywhere he went, and from the age of seven he encouraged me to help care for the dogs at home.” That early sense of responsibility stayed with her. As a child, she bathed, fed and walked the family dogs. If she saw injured animals on the road, she would take them to the vet and sometimes bring them home to recover. “I simply could not bear to see animals suffer,” she says. “I truly believe that kindness towards animals is part of what defines us as human beings.” It is a value she has also passed on to her three children, Ahmed, Mariam and Mai, who are all animal lovers and have dogs of their own. Over the years, Ms. Amal also volunteered at ‘Tony the Dogfather’ shelter on Fridays, helping care for dogs and donating food and other necessities whenever possible. A Life-Changing Bond One story, however, changed the way she viewed animal welfare forever. Her son Ahmed often joined her on visits to the shelter and became close to two Rottweilers who had been rescued after being abandoned. They had gone hungry for days before being found. One later died from severe malnutrition. Ahmed was heartbroken and asked to bring the surviving dog home. “At first, I was hesitant because Rottweilers are known for their intense protective instinct towards their owners,” Ms. Amal recalls. “But Ahmed insisted, so I agreed to let the dog stay with us for one day to observe his temperament.” The dog was calm, gentle and well behaved, but Ms. Amal was still unsure. That evening, she asked Ahmed to take him back to the shelter. “Something happened that I will never forget,” she says. “It was as though the dog understood he was being returned to the shelter. He started crying and howling in pain, with tears in his eyes like a child begging not to be abandoned again.” She could not bear to watch it. The dog, named Bo Bo, stayed. “Bo Bo the Rottweiler had clearly suffered greatly before coming into our lives, yet he still showed nothing but trust, affection and loyalty towards my family,” she says. “He was a gentle giant dog, the gentlest I have ever seen. He brought us years of happiness until he eventually passed away from cancer in old age.” That experience deepened her commitment. “I realised that animal welfare could not remain just an emotional reaction – it required long-term commitment, structure and community effort,” she says. “Every animal deserves to feel safe and loved in this world.”
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