posted
OK, pets are probably not the first thing on everyone's mind right now, but this has just come up as a potential issue on my FB.
Have you or do you know anyone who has quit Cairo and left a pet somewhere eg shut up in a flat or house or released onto the street just to get an idea of how big an issue this might be?
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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Apologies for not writing sooner. As you can imagine it is mayhem here, even on the level of our own personal lives and trying to care for the 600 animals in our shelter ‘from a distance’. General situation in the streets :
-Animals are being dumped on the streets – today I went to the shelter (first time i have been able to leave my house in relative safety). We found a dalmation dog dumped in Maadi and 3 persian cats dumped in various areas, plus orphaned puppies and kittens)
-Many foriegners have left, some have been forced to leave….I hate to think of how many animals have been euthanised by their owners, many people feel this is the only solution when they are forced to evacuate….Others obviously have left them to ‘take their chances’ on the streets of Cairo!
-We are terrified of how many ‘pets’ may have perished in the locked up. We will not be able to investigate until our volunteers are able to move freely on the streets.
-We have sent some of our volunteers who live near the Giza Zoo to go inside and check (although it is closed to the Public) they insisted to get in to meet the management and check for themselves. The animals are being fed, and actually seem less tormented without the visitors! The authorities have assured Mona Khalil my colleague, that they have stocks of food to last months.
-For sure you have seen on TV the ‘knights (thugs)’ that rode in on horses and camels to Tahrir Square the other day. I was on the streets today in the pyramids area and didn’t see any horses or camels, except a dead horse along the canal road, which is a common site, usually these horses have been ridden to death or hit by cars and their owners don’t have the decency to bury them.
-We, on a personal level are in a continuous struggle to ‘keep afloat’ at our shelter. We didn’t have any vets for one week as they were unable to get to the shelter due to road blocks and curfews. The shelter and the care of our 600 plus animals was the responsibility of a few workers who agreed to stay 24/7 at the shelter. Unfortunately the absence of our vets has resulted in some deaths and serious cases for some of our animals. We are contunually struggling to locate/buy food, medicines, pay the rent and the workers salaries, and even find detergents and disinfectants. We are only able to offer our animals one meal, instead of the usual 2 meals per day.
Some of the very sick animals will be taken by rented car tomorrow to an outside vet for x rays, treatment, and a possible amputation needed for one of the dogs (we have very limited facilities and only one vet ) . So to sum it up we are in ‘dire straits’. Although we have managed to raise some donations from abroad, the banks are still closed. We have also been reluctant to ask our local sponsors to pay their sponsorship pledges as we understand that they too, do not have cash, or food at home, food is becoming increasingly difficult to find and everything has shot up in price (even though the Government denies both!). All the big supermarkets have been closed down (many have been burnt down). There are very few petrol stations open, in fact ALL the petrol stations along the Cairo/Alex Desert Road, where I live were closed today, and I was lucky enough to find a small one open near the shelter, otherwise this would have meant that I would have only enough petrol to get back today, and no extra to go out again!
I think this pretty much sums up the current situation, we live day by day, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Pray for us…
posted
By any chance that someone could forward this information to Humane societies so funds could be collected outside of Egypt, and wired to Egypt to step up the efforts?
Or at least help fund the efforts?
Posts: 2280 | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
I've been doing that for the last 2 weeks. I have connected with several groups on Facebook and we have been sharing the links with many groups. I've also been posting it on Twitter. I am contacting corporations/businesses here in the US to solicit funds/sponsorships. I am also trying to schedule a media appearance with some local media here where I live. The reason I don't want to get humane societies in the US involved is because they are non-profits themselves and need money just as bad. We collected over $4,300 in a 4 day period (and I'm sure it's higher by now) and all donations were from outside Egypt. The transfer was made to ESMA's Egyptian bank over the weekend in anticipation of banks reopening in Egypt on Sunday.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
Someone's also raised the issue of the horses (and presumably camels) in Giza near the pyramids who won't be getting tourist income - don't know if anyone's organized anything for them right now
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY: We collected over $4,300 in a 4 day period (and I'm sure it's higher by now) and all donations were from outside Egypt. The transfer was made to ESMA's Egyptian bank over the weekend in anticipation of banks reopening in Egypt on Sunday.
Thats excellent work, so the shelters will have cash, volunteers ready to go.
How about getting into all those flats and homes in which these pets were left behind?
Can you just walk up to a building and ask the bawaab to let you in to retrieve the pet?
There has to be about 20,000 pets left behind.
My elderly kitty is 15 years old, and I'd hate to think what her last 12 hours of life would be like if I left her behind.
Posts: 2280 | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
I'm told that a party of vets with ESAF are going to visit the stables at the pyramids tomorrow to inspect and report on the animals there.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
That's good to know, SQ. The horses and camels are part of their livelihood and to let them die is sad. But I understand that they have choices to make.
Hopefully tourists will start to come back soon. But I think the govt should help them too.
-------------------- I fell in to a burning ring of fire . . . Posts: 895 | From: NorthTexas, USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Maybe there could be some animal husbandry lessons in the package somewhere. As has been pointed out a few times, if the animals had been healthy to start with, it would have taken longer than 2 weeks to reduce them to the terrible state they are in or death.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
I think you are right about that. There has been a case here of horses in fields that have been neglected and are really skinny that have survived a long time . . . the photos were sad when you see all the bones sticking out. At least they had grass but not even much of that if left long enough.
-------------------- I fell in to a burning ring of fire . . . Posts: 895 | From: NorthTexas, USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Thing I've noticed with horses here, is nobody seems to give them water. If they don't get water, you may as well not feed them. Having said that, my veg man's horse is the fattest thing I've seen for years!He's vegetarian.
Posts: 1399 | From: alexandria | Registered: Jan 2002
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ARE YOU FREE? DO YOU WANT TO HELP? COME AND JOIN US!! ESAF together with Brooke Hospital and the Veterinary Department are going tomorrow Sunday 13.02.11 at 9 am to the Pyramids area at Nazlet EL Saman to start a week long treatment of the horses, camels and donkeys which health conditions has always been a big issue bu...t with the curre...nt political situation which affected the country the past 18 days, those poor animals health has completely deteriorated. Please do come along and bring with you (if you can) carrots, corn, clover (bersim in arabic), sugar cubes, hay and love lots of love to help feed the animals. ESAF is providing a big quantity of carrots and clover (bersim) but we need a lot more. Hoping to see as many of you there as possible...
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Report just in from the ESAF / Brooke / Vet Dept visit to the horses and donkeys at the pyramids today.
Nazlet El Saman (Pyramids) Clinic Report 13.02.2011
Dear all, Today was the first day ESAF went to the pyramids area to help the animals in the region. Brooke Hospital has been there from the last week and ESAF joined them. ESAF has treated the animals in the Pyramids area and has held clinics in the area on quite regular basis, we always observed a number of quite well fed animals and quite a large number of under fed ones, today we found a similar situation. Today however we noticed a much larger number of very thin horses , and we can assume this is due to the political situation and lack of tourism. One of the very disturbing facts we found was that the owners of the horses are also suffering from the lack of income which which will defiantly affect the animals. We fed approx 150 animals and 120 horses were treated, Brooke and ESAF will continue feeding and treating the animals on a daily basis at least till the end of the month, also The Donkey Sanctuary(Egypt project) was also there in a different station, treating donkeys and they will be joining ESAF and Brooke tomorrow. As far as we know DS and Brooke only provide treatment no food, but ESAF will continue feeding as long as possible. Photos of the event today already posted. We will send regular reports. Ahmed El Sherbiny ESAF ChairPerson
Photos - WARNING - not pretty:
(link didn't work, will put a new one in when I've figure it out!)
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Something that I've noticed since living here is that in general (obviously I am not saying *everyone*), people here don't treat their animals well.
Maybe it's only the people who use animals to make a living (the donkey cart guys, etc.)?
When coming home today, walking from Pyramid to Faisel Street, I saw two separate guys with a horse and cart. The first horse looked great, well fed and tended, no apparent issues. The second horse was not so well fed or tended, and the guy who was fussing with the reins while we walked by actually punched the horse in the head.
I was shocked to say the least. I'm always shocked when I see the animals mistreated here. I simply don't understand it.
I've seen some really awful things done to the animals. It's just really a shame. I hate to say this but I really feel there should be a special place in hell for those who mistreat animals like that.
Posts: 1283 | From: Cairo | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I think part of it is people under the screw will often screw down on those lower than them Sad fact of life. We've had discussions on this before. If you do raise this issue with Egyptians you are often greeted with "You should care about the people not the animals" as if the two are mutually exclusive, rather than what I believe which is treatment of animals is indicative of society as a whole. Some of it is lack of education, but not all.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
A dutch friend of mine posted pics of several emaciated dead horses found in Giza on her FB asking folk to help highlight the need for care and assistance and she had her husband and all his friends attack her for portraying Egypt in a bad way and asked her to remove them.
Shame... she was only trying to help.
Posts: 11097 | From: Cairo | Registered: May 2008
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posted
This is going to sound really condescending [which is a fault I am famous for] but if you approach horse/donkey owners, and express admiration for the condition of the animal, even if you have to stretch the truth, even if it's just good cared for feet, or clean harness, it does really encourage better care. I've seen horses/donkeys in such pitiful condition [and the owners in a worse state btw] but with flowers in their manes.But a little encouragement may just mean a little improvement in the care of the poor animal. Just try it, can't hurt can it?
Posts: 1399 | From: alexandria | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
My heart breaks when I read or see pics of the suffering that animals go through wherever in the world. Daily I read horrendous stories of abuse happening here in the UK. The charities that are working in Egypt at the moment have a thankless task with limited resources I know and my thoughts are with them all. An image that always stays with me for some reason was in Abu Dhabi walking down the main shopping street and seeing a dead cat in the middle of the pavement and everyone just stepping over it. It had obviously crawled there and died In hubby's town I was asked what I thought about the place and I just had to be honest and say I found the homeless dogs scavenging for food upsetting. I understand that if people are lacking in food that animals will be an after thought but if you look after your donkey, horse, camel, it will serve you well. I do hope things improve soon.
Posts: 4476 | From: Scotland | Registered: Mar 2006
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Just beware as some of the photos are not very good. this is truly sad.
I can't access the webpage I get this:
Sorry, something went wrong. We're working on getting this fixed as soon as we can.
Go Back
Which might be for the better. After reading the first few posts in this thread and the subsequent links I have had nightmares over the last few days.
I don't do well with this sort of thing.
When renovations were done in Islamic Cairo by the Aga Khan charities, old monuments and buildings were restored while local families were trained, employed and educated to preserve local history.
The main compliant during the "outreach" or planning of the renovations that the project would be about preserving buildings while the situation of the neighborhood peoples would deteriorate. In order to make the renovation project work, the neighborhood and its people had to rise in their quality of living not by a handout but by actually improving their lives to go with it.
Possibly the same could be done for protection of animals.
funds to improve the quality of life for working animals, mixed with funds to improve the quality of life for the humans who work along side the animals.
Education mandatory, a taskforce to recruit Egyptians and their working animals, and an corp of inspectors to make sure that the agreements are lived up to.
In the meantime I'd like to see a special law passed in which foreigners who bring their pets to Egypt have to apply for a license and sign up with an organization paid for by those license fees in which the organization has a list of all foreigners with pets and allocated space/funds for emergency shelter/care and evacuation procedures to ensure that the pets are retrieved during foreigners being evacuated.
Here's the scenerio:
1. Apply for a tourist visa with a pet in hand as part of carry on or cargo luggage you must pay an up front fee, you renew that tourist visa you must show proof of an living pet or a crematation certificate to renew that tourist visa. Same for residency or work permit visas.
2. the fees go to an organiztion that makes a call every 3 months to the designated mobile/landline number to ensure its records are up to date.
3. Emergency evacution plans in place to retrieve, accept drop off of pets during foreigner evacuation. This includes pet food supplies, vets willing to provide care at a reduced rate (this could also be a great marketing tactic for vets to solicite foreign clients). Plus this organization could later lobby foreign embassies to allow foreigners to evacute with pets to alleviate demand for the organization to provide care and services in Egypt after foreigners leave.
4. If foreigners after they evacuate don't come back to Egypt for their pets, a service will be provided for a fee to ship pets back to their home nations. Quarentine process involved, vets services and lab procedures to give the pet an expedited bill of health to go home with their human parents more quickly.
Worst case scenerio euthanisa or "adoption" of pets by foreigners living in Egypt. Complete with Carnival fund raiser in which a "mutt dog show" which could really change the tide for dogs. Mutts are God's favored creatures and they need to be appreciated. Raffles, games for kids, and local foreigner clubs like the BCA, that runners club (name eludes me now but its basically a drinking club with a running problem).
I just don't want to see this happen again. The photo of the yellow lab mix in the flat window looking out for his human parents has flooded my nightmares as his slow panicked death unfolds in the apartment. For the last 3 nights I witness his lonely, panic-stricken thirst and starvation driven demise over and over again. A friend of mine has given me sedatives, but I don't know when the nightmare will end or when I'll be able to sleep without this dog's death unfolding as soon as my eyes close for the night.
Posts: 2280 | Registered: Oct 2009
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Copy and paste here for those who don't like links:
NOTE: This is a personal note based on my own observations. I am not a vet. This is not any kind of report - vets for different charities are writing these.
PERSONAL SUMMARY: The situation is not as dire as you may believe from the internet (which is not to say there aren't problems, because there are - there have been ongoing concerns about the condition of many of the animals there which long predate the current political situation). Donations are needed for ongoing medical treatment and food for the poorer folk. The charities are hoping to work there on an ongoing daily/near daily basis for the next 3-4 months. If tourism does not begin to pick up then things could deteriorate.
(UPDATE: I have now seen the vet's report for the day and it does say that he was informed by a local person that the number of horses dying had increased from starvation. There are also concerns about the nutritional content of the food at this time which is laying the animals open to catching other illnesses).
VISIT
Following the furore on the internet in the past couple of days over the plight of the horses and donkeys (but strangely not the camels!) at the village of Nazlet al Saman at the foot of the Pyramids, I went along today to see for myself.
I went to the ESAF /Brooke Hospital station outside Ramsis Stables. Got there around 10am - they were already in full swing. I took over from one of the vets recording the animals being treated (owner, diagnosis, treatment) and did that for about 3 hours.
The Brooke people treated horses and the ESAF people treated the camels and also some horses and a donkey. The Donkey Sanctuary is treating donkeys elsewhere in the vicinity. I understand that the ESMA charity is also working in the area.
By around 1pm, about 400 animals (I think all street animals) were treated at that station, mainly horses and camels, and mainly for mange, worms and lameness.
One person went up to visit the graveyard - subject of many photos on the net in the past 2 days - and another person I met later in the day by accident and nothing to do with the 'situation' said that anyone who rides regularly in that area knows that this is the horses' graveyard. Basically, if a horse dies - and one of the stable owners told us there are around 7000 horses living in that area so there are naturally deaths - it is left out in that area for nature to take it's course, rather than removing and burying the carcasses.
A vet and another person also visited the place where the horses which have been pictured as starving were living. The owner said that there is some kind of sickness up there (predating the political situation) but they don't know what it is, but they were not starving the animals. The vet invited him to bring the horses down to the treatment station.
The green stuff which is the staple food of most of the horses seemed to be very available, and apparently costs something like 35-40LE per 100kg. I saw truck loads of it being brought in so it is available.
The ESAF/Brooke effort will be ongoing daily for the next 30 days at least, possibly longer.
After the station closed for the day, we sat down drinking tea and some of the stable owners and others were talking about how they can bring animal rights into the new political agenda. Some were expressing concern about how the furore on the internet had conveyed the wrong impression that all the animals were sick and dying of starvation. We discussed getting a journalist in to cover the situation properly allowing all their say. But we all know that when there is a 'party line' it can be hard to find someone willing to go against it. Hopefully, a journalist can be found willing to do a proper investigation.
They were also very angry at being blamed for sending the horses and camels up to the demonstrations last week and were clear that it was not anyone from that area.
I asked one of the stable owners if his stables were nearby could we go and look, so we all reconvened over at his stables. They are livery stables where foreigners keep their horses and I saw some magnificent horses in excellent condition.
The conversation continued, but we did raise the issues of how best to help the animals - tourists please come back! - but also how to raise the general condition of the street horses and camels which are not based in stables. These are all things the people are discussing.
We know things were far from perfect there before the political situation, and now may be the time to start sorting these things out.
From my personal visit and a discussion with the staff, if you want to make donations then I would recommend that you specify for them to be spent on medicines or medical treatments. I don't know, but I imagine the routine mange and worming treatments are relatively inexpensive, but there were animals who will need ongoing antibiotic and other treatments which may be a lot more expensive.
On another point, a friend was telling an Egyptian friend (middle-class, well-educated, professional) of hers what was happening up there to be met once more with the 'why bother with animals when people are starving' response so common here. There was little acknowledgment that the animals being treated were working animals and peoples' livelihoods depend upon them.
There is a major awareness-building an education effort needs to go on here with the general public.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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Now is the time to use the power of the mighty $, £ or Euro to encourage animal owners to take animal welfare more seriously.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Thanks for the report Shanta, good to know things aren't quite as dire as had been being reported.
I really hope they will make strides in getting better care on a more permanent basis for all the animals.
Posts: 1283 | From: Cairo | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I would just clarify - things are NOT great there, but the conditions predate the current political situation. I think if tourists can become more aware of the health of the animals that they ride on, then pressure can be brought to bear that way.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
The place I went on Monday is looking for 2 volunteers a day 9am - 2pm for the next 4 weeks.
I've messaged the relevant person to ask her (a) who you should contact if you want to do it so she doesn't end up with 20 on one day and none on the next and (b) what specifically you would be doing - it's good if you go knowing what your role is.
So bear it in mind if you are interested. It's near the Sphinx, so I've also asked her for a map.
If you ARE interested, all I would say is that if you do agree to go PLEASE GO unless you are really ill or something.
Will add details when I get them.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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