Animal Abuser at Large (not yet prosecuted for animal cruelty): Mukhlis Khidir Khoshnaw, born July 1985, owner of Arbela Food Mart, 36 Lawrence Road, Wavertree, Liverpool L15 0EG – kept a large Rottweiler in cruel conditions in the basement of his dodgy ‘grocery’ shop.
The unnamed Rottweiler was kept as a guard-dog and apparently lived 24/7 among boxes and stock at the shop.
In November 2025, a three-month closure order was issued against the business on for its role in enabling anti-social behaviour, including public urination and the sale of illicit tobacco and viagra. It has now had its premises licence removed by Liverpool Council.
The dog was first discovered by officials during an inspection of the shop in April 2025 but no action was taken at that time.
When they visited the shop again in November 2025 to issue a closure order, they re-encountered the “very, very large” dog.
The officers used “non-lethal animal control shields” (in other words, an electric shock) and seized the “out of control” dog.
According to the Liverpool Echo, their reporter saw “piles of cardboard boxes and binbags … placed in front of the dog, which had been kept at the back of the basement by a rudimentary pen.
“This had been made using off cuts of wood and what appeared to be shelving from inside the shop. An old black leather sofa, seemingly used as a dog bed, had been placed at the back of the basement against a wall”.
As it wasn’t possible to rehome the dog, who wasn’t chipped, he was put down by Liverpool Council animal control officials.
Mukhlis Khoshnaw, who came to the UK from Irbil, Iraq, is a multiple business owner. Currently, his other shops include the following locations:
- Zabka, 98 Smithdown Road, Toxteth L7 4JQ
- K&1 Store, 300 Breck Road, Everton L5 6QB
