A Dubai-based cafe has come under fire when it showed a cheetah in the venue. The social media story was filmed at the cafe and featured a cheetah roaming around the cafe and eating meat off the floor. According to the cafe’s owner, the owner of the animal passed by and when she went to inform him that the cafe was not open, she saw the cheetah in the back of the car and invited him in. The owner has denied claims that she was using the animal to promote her cafe and says that the cheetah “was just a baby” and the other people in the cafe were not under threat.
According to the Federal Law No 22 of 2016, in the UAE, keeping a wild or exotic animal is illegal except for in zoos, wildlife parks, breeding and research centres. It is also illegal to bring a wild animal to a public place. The cafe and its owner will be under investigation and the cheetah will be confiscated.