[Animals] Stray dogs: po[CENSORED]r initiatives to protect them in Egypt

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Data from the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture indicate that there are about 15 million stray dogs roaming the streets, causing a major problem for some local residents.

 

Estimates from the Egyptian Ministry of Health show that about two million citizens have been subjected to cases of stigma or attacks from dogs, whether they were stray or owned by people, in different parts of the republic during the past year, which prompted the House of Representatives to hold a special session within the local administration committee to discuss this issue since several months.

Some, including official bodies, found that the best solution to address the problem is to poison the animals, which sparked a wave of criticism about the animal rights situation in Egypt.

 

Local administration officials in Egypt say that the poisoning of street animals is carried out based on the complaints of some residents and is carried out in the presence of veterinarians, using approved poisons that do not cause harm to the environment.

 

To poison against human values
Roaa Abdel Rahim, an activist in the field of animal welfare, told the BBC, that she was able, in cooperation with a group of her friends in the Nasr City neighborhood, east of Cairo, to find a solution to the problem of stray dogs and cats, whose herds caused a major crisis for the residents of the neighborhood, especially in some remote areas. night hours.

Roa Abdul Rahim and her friends managed to raise some money to buy some rabies vaccinations and other treatments for street animals, as well as sterilize the dogs to make them unable to reproduce and produce more puppies.

The human rights activist adds that this is much better than killing animals with poison or "unmerciful" shotguns, because religion urges compassion and kindness to animals and not to harm them, noting that the presence of these animals contributes to the process of ecological balance between the living creatures that live among us.

The visions give an example of the crisis of the spread of snakes and mice in the neighborhood of the Fifth Settlement near them, when the residents of the neighborhood killed most of the dogs that were present in the area, which led to the disruption of the natural food chain, which caused the spread of these organisms that harm human health after their enemies were eliminated the naturals.

big material cost
Through the association to which Rua’a belongs, hundreds of sterilization and vaccination operations have been carried out in veterinary clinics, which some of its doctors have volunteered to perform in return for reduced fees in exchange for surgical tools, treatment materials and anesthesia.

However, the financial cost of conducting these operations is rather large if we consider the large numbers of stray animals that live in the Egyptian streets.

 

Dr. Mahmoud Kamal, owner of a veterinary clinic that conducts sterilization and vaccination of animals, says that the annual cost of vaccinating an animal against rabies is about 100 Egyptian pounds (US$7), while the average cost of performing sterilization operations for one animal is about 1500 Egyptian pounds (94 dollars). American), and the cost may increase in some cases that require medical care after surgery to prevent infection of wounds and the occurrence of complications, and most of these animals need to remain under medical observation and quarantine for a period of up to about two weeks, according to Dr. Kamal.

The veterinarian confirms that the cost of animal sterilization and vaccination is incomparable if these animals are left on the streets, transmitting diseases and infecting humans with “rabies”, which he describes as one of the most dangerous diseases common to animals and humans, for which science has not found an effective treatment so far and may cause the death of those It is infected by either a person or an animal.

Kamal refers to what he describes as misinformation about rabies, which is that an animal infected with it may die within a week at most of infection, but he confirms that some research indicates the possibility of the animal remaining carrying the virus that causes rabies for a long period of up to a year without If he shows any symptoms, and during this period, he can cause great problems for those around him, including living beings, including humans.

Great damage to the environment
Some activists say that the stroquine poison, which is used to kill stray animals, may cause harm to other animals or to anyone who handles the poisoned animal or its corpse after death, and the decomposition of its corpse causes damage to the environment.