Rescue Work in Egypt
Unlike in America, Cairo’s animal welfare issues are forced into the public eye at every turn. Images of dogs and cats living and dying on the streets in huge numbers, and malnourished horses and donkeys pulling excessively heavy carts confront tourists and residents every day. Despite a long history of attention to animal welfare in Islamic law, modern Egypt has failed to care properly for its animal citizens. The Egyptian government’s idea of animal population control consists of poisoning and shooting homeless dogs and cats.
United by a sense of outrage about the situation, and a passion to make a difference, a group of Egyptians formed The Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals (ESMA).
Headquartered in Cairo, ESMA currently provides a home to 179 dogs and 123 cats, and focuses on emergency rescue cases, rehabilitation, and adoption. ESMA Vice President Mona Khalil, who runs the day-to-day operations at the shelter (in addition to her full time job as a broadcast journalist) says that, “education is the key to the future of animal welfare in Egypt. Ignorance produces this cruelty that we see on a daily basis; ignorance about the many ways in which even a poor society can do much better for its animals.”
The Egyptian government’s idea of animal population control consists of poisoning and shooting the dogs and cats on the street.
ESMA teaches proper animal care and compassion. “We have made huge progress within the semi-rural community in which our shelter is located,” Khalil explains, “because we provide the only source of care people have for their animals.” ESMA provides animals in need with free spaying and neutering, as well as free medical care.
With animal welfare a new field in Egypt, ESMA faces challenges that range from a lack of veterinarian medical supplies to difficulty finding employees to work at the shelter. Graduates of veterinary school have never worked with cats and dogs, since vet schools focus mainly on animals for consumption.
ESMA has begun offering vet students internships that provide them with hands-on experience with companion animals, generating interest in this new field of vet care. “Vet students can face ridicule from their families and peers for wanting to work with dogs and cats,” Khalil explains, “We have to help them understand that their work is essential and honorable.” ESMA hopes to be able to send its vets for short training courses in the U.S. in the future.
Misunderstandings of religion also challenge ESMA in its work.
Under some interpretations of Islam, dogs are considered ritually impure, and handlers are required to wash the part of the body or clothing that has been in contact with the dog before prayer. Unfortunately, many Egyptians take this purity issue and its accompanying rules to the extreme, harming dogs on the street despite its reprehensibility in Islamic law.
ESMA has helped to produce a primer on Islamic law and animal welfare, which will be widely distributed this fall. ESMA has undertaken a capital campaign to raise the funds to buy land to construct its permanent shelter and medical center. Currently it operates on rented land, and so is limited to the existing infrastructure. Visit esmaegypt.org to find out more information about how you can help.
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Beijing Animals Endure the Ugly Side of the Olympics
With the summer Olympics just around the corner, images of the infamous torch and flames fuel the world’s anticipation for the largest display of athletic skill, nationalism and competitive spirit. As the Olympic Games commence, tourists from around the world will take in the pageantry of China’s capital city, Beijing, at its finest. Beijing’s culture will be accentuated at every turn—buildings will have been renovated, polluting factories will be temporarily shut down to clear the air of choking smog and the streets will be lined with flowers. Taxi drivers will greet passengers politely in English, as part of a citywide “courtesy campaign,” and sightings of the homeless will be few and far between.
The dogs were “culled”, or removed, by local authorities by capturing them with a long pole containing a wire hoop and then beaten to death. Dog wardens and volunteers were paid by local authorities to kill any animal found on the street.
Typically cities throughout the world, having been granted the privilege of hosting the famous games, undergo a “cleansing process” in hopes of shining a favorable light on the city’s “good side.” Beijing is no exception.
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The Essentials of Socializing your Pup
After a long, cold winter, Spring has finally arrived and the streets and sidewalks are bustling with people and their pets anxious to get outdoors to enjoy the weather. Puppy classes reach their peak of enrollment now because this is the optimum time of year to housebreak and socialize a new pup.
What exactly is the purpose of socializing your new family member and why is it so important? I remember when I got my first puppy many years ago before entering the field of canine behavior. I was told to introduce my puppy to something new every day.
Training can occur at any time during his life but the development stages only happen once and proper socialization during that period is the most important thing you can do. Be sure to stress your pup a little every day. Take him everywhere you can. Introduce him to all the situations he will have to deal with in the future.
“Puppies provided with poor socialization or deprived of environmental exposure often develop lifelong deficits and dysfunctional behaviors. A puppy isolated early in life from other puppies and humans will not only fail to establish satisfying social contact with conspecifics or enjoy companionship with people later in life (such puppies are extremely fearful of any social contact), they will also exhibit widespread behavioral and cognitive disabilities as well.” – Handbook of Applied Behavior and Training, Steven R. Lindsay.
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