In the impoverished Gaza Strip, where most people struggle to make ends meet amid a crippling blockade, the suffering of stray dogs and cats often goes unnoticed.
Said el-Er, who founded the territory’s only animal rescue organisation in 2006, has been trying to change that. He and other volunteers rescue dogs and cats that have been struck by cars or abused and nurse them back to health – but there are too many.
So in recent weeks they have launched Gaza’s first spay-and-neuter programme. It goes against taboos in the conservative Palestinian territory, where feral dogs and cats are widely seen as pests and many view spaying and neutering as forbidden by Islam.
“Because the society is Muslim, they talk about halal (allowed) and haram (forbidden),” Mr El-Er said. “We know what halal is and what haram is, and it’s haram (for the animals) to be widespread in the streets where they can be run over, shot or poisoned.”
Islam teaches kindness towards animals, but Muslim scholars are divided on whether spaying and neutering causes harm. Across the Arab world, dogs are widely shunned as unclean and potentially dangerous, and cats do not fare much better.
Mr El-Er and other advocates for the humane treatment of animals face an added challenge in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in 2007. Gaza’s two million residents suffer from nearly 50 per cent unemployment, frequent power outages and heavy travel restrictions.
With many struggling to meet basic needs, animal care is seen as a waste of precious resources or a luxury at best. Mr El-Er’s group, Sulala for Animal Care, relies on private donations, which can be hard to come by.
Mr El-Er says his team can no longer keep up with the number of injured animals that they find or that are brought to the clinic. “The large number of daily injuries is beyond our capacity,” he said. “That’s why we resorted to neutering.”
On a recent day, volunteers neutered a street dog and two cats that had been brought in. There are few veterinary clinics and no animal hospitals in Gaza, so they performed the operations in a section of a pet store that had been cleaned and disinfected.
“We have shortages in capabilities, tools, especially those needed for orthopaedic surgeries,” said Bashar Shehada, a local veterinarian. “There is no suitable place for operations.”
Mr El-Er has spent years trying to organise a spay and neutering campaign but met with resistance from local authorities and vets, who said it was forbidden. He eventually secured a fatwa, or religious ruling, stating that it is more humane to spay and neuter animals than to consign an ever-growing population to misery and abuse.
Once the fatwa was issued, Mr El-Er said local authorities did not object to the campaign as a way of promoting public health and safety. The Hamas-run health and agriculture ministries allowed veterinarians to carry out operations and purchase supplies and medicine, he said.
The Gaza City municipality provided land for a shelter earlier this year. Before that, Mr El-Er kept the rescued animals at his home and on two small tracts of land that he leased.
The new shelter currently houses around 200 dogs, many of them blind, bearing scars from abuse or missing limbs from being hit by cars. At least one was adjusting to walking with a prosthetic limb. A separate section holds cats in similar shape.
The group tries to find homes for the animals, but here too it faces both economic and cultural challenges. Very few Gazans would keep a dog as a pet, and there’s little demand for cats. Some people adopt the animals from abroad, sending money for their food and care.
Over the past decade, international animal welfare groups have carried out numerous missions to evacuate anguished animals from makeshift zoos in Gaza and relocate them to sanctuaries in the West Bank, Jordan and Africa.
But there are no similar campaigns for dogs and cats, and Gaza has been sealed off from all but returning residents since March to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.
Mr El-Er’s phone rang recently and the caller said a dog had been hit by a car. Volunteers from Sulala brought it back to the shelter on the back of a three-wheeled motorbike and began treating it. Mr El-Er says they receive around five such calls every day.
Little Pup was abandoned, forced to endure a string of sorrowful days. Today, he has transformed into an exceptionally friendly companion
In a world the place compassion and kindness are important, the story of just a little pet’s transformation from a distressed and confined existence to changing into an extremely resilient and succesful member of society is a testomony to the facility of affection and care. This heartwarming story highlights the resilience and capability for change that resides inside each dwelling being.
The journey begins with a small pet, as soon as stuffed with innocence and curiosity, who discovered itself trapped by the tough chains of confinement. Days become weeks, and fear settled within the hearts of those that encountered this unlucky creature. The pet’s eyes, as soon as full of hope and vitality, held a glimmer of disappointment, as if it had misplaced all religion on the planet.
Nonetheless, as destiny would have it, a collection of lucky occasions unfolded, bringing a ray of sunshine into the pet’s life. A form-hearted particular person, pushed by empathy and a need to make a distinction, found the pet’s plight. Decided to offer an escape and an opportunity at a greater life, they set out on a mission to liberate the toddler from its confinement and provide it an opportunity at a greater life.
With cautious dedication, the chains that had shackled the pet to its previous have been regularly eliminated. Step-by-step, the pet started to emerge from its cocoon of isolation and provide its loyalty and friendship to the world. The pet’s eyes, now full of hope and vitality as soon as once more, shone as if it had rediscovered the enjoyment of life. The toll of its restrictive life-style had been evident, because it struggled to search out consolation on the planet it had been denied for thus lengthy.
Nonetheless, as destiny would have it, a collection of lucky occasions unfolded, bringing a ray of sunshine into the pet’s life. A form-hearted particular person, pushed by empathy and a need to make a distinction, found the pet’s plight. Decided to offer an escape and an opportunity at a greater life, they set out on a mission to liberate the toddler from its confinement and provide it an opportunity at a greater life.
With care and dedication, the chains that had sure the pet to its previous have been regularly eliminated. Step-by-step, the pet started to emerge from its cocoon of isolation and prolong its belief to others. The pet’s eyes, now full of hope and vitality as soon as once more, gleamed as if it had rediscovered the enjoyment of life. The journey of its outstanding transformation had simply begun.
Within the days that adopted, the pet was immersed in an atmosphere full of love, persistence, and understanding. It was showered with light touches, soothing phrases, and nourishing meals. The pet’s once-downtrodden spirit started to blossom, forging deep emotional connections with the individuals round it.
The transformation of this little pet serves as a reminder that each dwelling being has the potential to beat adversity and thrive. It’s a testomony to the facility of compassion and the profound affect it will probably have on a person’s life. Let this story encourage us to be sort, empathetic, and responsive caretakers of all creatures, making certain that they too have the chance to flourish on this world.
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