Dispute over prize camel’s parentage ends up in court

A camel buyer refused to pay Dh200,000 for a prize camel after he claimed he was scammed over the animal's parentage.

A court has ruled a camel trader who refused to pay for an animal because he said it had an impure bloodline – despite owning it for seven months and racing it – must pay the agreed Dh200,000.

Al Ain Civil Court heard that S K, an Emirati, agreed to buy the Bakra camel from M H, also an Emirati, but did not pay.

Seven months later, after he had entered it in several races, the buyer demanded he be allowed to give the animal back, claiming the seller had cheated him over the camel’s parentage.

He said the camel did not have a pure pedigree, as “its father has two humps and its mother is Sudanese”.

To enter camels in races and beauty contests they must be partly descended from local stock.

Camels with two humps, or Bactrian camels, are native to central Asia, while single-humped dromedaries are indigenous to the Middle East and Africa.

The court heard that when the seller refused to take the animal back, the buyer tied it up at the race yard and left it there to be retrieved.

M H sued S K for the cost of the camel, plus 12 per cent interest, and compensation for defamation after being accused by S K of defrauding him.

A special committee was assigned to adjudicate and it was decided that returning the camel was unacceptable, as the buyer had kept it for so long and entered it in races.

The committee said the bloodline of the camel could have been determined immediately.

The court ruled S K must pay Dh200,000 and Dh500 in lawyers’ fees.