Talk of dogs in Bahrain amid demos & shooting

March 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2011:
MANAMA– Thousands of opponents of the regime of King Hamad
bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain reoccupied central Manama on February
20, 2011 after troops were withdrawn, following gunfire that left
at least five protesters dead and 25 missing.
Amid the demonstrations, which began on Valentine’s Day,
“Residents across Bahrain have come out in force with suggestions on
how to tackle the increasing number of stray dogs plaguing the
country,” reported Basma Mohammed of Gulf News. “Dozens of e-mails
have been sent to Central Municipal Council chair Abdulrazzaq Al
Hattab following his appeal,” on February 8, “for ideas to find a
solution to the problem. The animals have been accused of attacking
cattle and leaving many residents too afraid to leave their homes at
night.”

Concern for animals who were locked up in Cairo under curfew

March 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2011:

CAIRO–Unable to move about Cairo and surrounding suburbs
during the January/February 2011 Egyptian unrest, due to barricades
guarded by police, the military, and ordinary citizens trying to
protect their neighborhoods, animal rescuers did what they could by
cell telephone and e-mail. When electronic communications were shut
down for several days as well, those trapped in their homes could
only imagine the plight of animals trapped at the Giza Zoo, in pet
stores, and left behind by foreigners who heeded warnings to
evacuate.

Camels, horses & change in Egypt

March 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2011:

CAIRO–The conflict of old and new in Tahrir Square, Cairo,
was perhaps most starkly illustrated by the February 2, 2011 charge
of 18 whip-wielding men on horseback and two on camels against the
tens of thousands of people demanding the resignation of
then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The demonstrators had
occupied the square since January 25.
Mubarak left on February 11, ending a 30-year dictatorial
regime, but on February 2 the outcome of the protests was still in
doubt. “In Dokki, in western Cairo,” reported Al Jazeera,
“thousands of Mubarak supporters gathered in Lebanon Square,
chanting ‘He won’t go,’ in reference to Mubarak, as they watched
camel riders and horse-cart drivers parade in circles.”

Haj & Eid abuses exposed again

November 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2010:

Live transport, crude amateur slaughter
at the November 16, 2010 celebration of the Eid
“Feast of Sacrifice,” slaughter in front of
children, poor animal welfare leading to the
spread of disease–including the often deadly
tick-borne Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever–and
misuse of the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca as a cover
for wildlife trafficking all came to light in
2010 post-Haj reportage. The most encouraging
sign of change may have been simply that much of
the critical reportage was done by leading media
in Islamic nations.

Pakistan flood recedes but animal welfare crisis is still underway

October 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2010:
(Actual press date November 3.)

KARACHI–Floods that swamped more than a fifth of Pakistan
receded in October 2010, but the resultant animal welfare crisis may
have just begun.
“According to the Department of Livestock,” e-mailed
Pakistan Animal Welfare Society founder Mahera Omar, “1.2 million
mammals and six million poultry died in the floods. At least two
million hectares of cultivatable land were damaged. If the planting
seasons are missed, both livestock and people will continue to
suffer for a long time.”

Baghdad deploys gunmen to kill dogs

June 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2010:
BAGHDAD–More than 42,000 of the estimated 1.25 million
stray dogs roaming Baghdad were shot in the 60 days preceding June
11, 2010 according to the London Daily Mail foreign service.
The pace of dog-shooting had apparently increased sixfold
since Sam Dagher of the The New York Times reported in March 2010
that about 10,000 dogs had been shot since December. The shooting,
Dagher said, augmented “a program begun late last year in which the
national Ministry of Agriculture’s veterinary services teamed up with
the municipality, the police, and even the army in some of the
tougher neighborhoods. Mostly the dogs are killed with rotten raw
meat laced with strychnine.” Dagher described a poisoning crew
“being harassed a bit over whether dogs are really Iraq’s biggest
worry.”

Iranian cleric issues fatwa against keeping pet dogs

June 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2010:

TEHRAN–Acknowledging that the Koran does not explicitly
prohibit contact with dogs, the Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem
Shirazi, 86, nonetheless decreed in a June 19, 2010 fatwa
published by the Iranian newspaper Javan Daily that dogs are
“unclean” and should not be kept as pets.
“We have lots of narrations in Islam that say dogs are
unclean,” Shirazi said in his fatwa, or religious opinion,
disregarding that most mentions of dogs attributed to the Prophet
Mohammed himself are favorable and that some of his inner circle kept
dogs.

Egyptian federation reconstituted

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

CAIRO–One bitter dispute over control of the Egyptian
Federation for Animal Welfare appeared to end and others recommence
on March 23, 2010 with the judicial reversal of a June 2009 edict by
the Egyptian Directorate of Social Affairs that EFAW would be chaired
by appointee Shihab-Eldin Abdel-Hamid Abdel-Rahman, who was
empowered to organize the election of a new board.
“The original board are now reinstated, and any decision
taken by the now illegal board are invalid and will be open to
criminal charges,” e-mailed attorney and Egyptian Society of Animal
Friends president Ahmed El Sherbiny.

Fire hits Animal Friends League of Kuwait

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

WAFRA, Kuwait–Electrical fires on March 12 and March 24,
2010 razed most of the Animal Friends League of Kuwait shelter
complex. The facilities, featured in a presentation on shelter
design at the first Middle East Network for Animal Welfare conference
in 2007, were widely praised as the best in the Middle East.
The first fire destroyed the residential quarters and all
personal possessions of four live-in staff members. The second fire
killed eight dogs and 31 cats, and badly injured others, some of
whom died later.

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