There are no holidays for cats in Dubai as there are no moments of relax for all the other strays across the world. Street animals try to survive day after day with the only hope to find something to eat or to avoid captures from which they will often never return.
OIPA International reported the cruel reality experienced by strays in Dubai and the rest of the Emirates many times. Local authorities literally prefer to leave cats starving to death as a solution to keep their number under control rather than allocating financial resources to implement neutering/spaying programmes. Once cats are caught by pest control companies, they disappeared. Dumped away from the city or abandoned in the desert with no access to food and water and with no one able to relieve their pain and suffering.
It is not that difficult to see notices and announcements posted in different residential areas warning residents and tourists to not feed stray cats to avoid fines and prosecutions.
As celebration of the International Cat Day last August, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment published The UAE National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan 2022 – 2026.pdf (1) – aimed at preserving local biodiversity by regulating and mitigating the impact of invasive species on the environment in the UAE, including stray cats on the list! An approach that goes to justify the inhumane, cruel, ethically unacceptable and totally ineffective method of handling with the stray cats population in the entire United Arab Emirates.
Luckily, there are volunteers so devoted to animals that prefer to risk than leaving their tailed friends starving to death.
A few weeks ago, OIPA International provided 200 kg of dry and canned food for cats helping a volunteer who takes care of feline colonies in abandoned areas of Dubai fill their bellies at least for a little while. An early Christmas present for these invisible who live among the waste and the indifference of people.
❤️ With a chain of love and supporting our project “Save a Stray”, we could do much more for animals who have nothing! ❤️
