EGYPTIAN ANIMAL RIGHTS

The Abolitionist speaks with Mona Khalil from The Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (SPARE) on a variety of urgent animal rights and rescue issues they are currently facing in Egypt. Also SPARE wants to do more work with handicapped animals because they see so many of them in Cairo but they still lack the financial resources to get this project off the ground. Can Abolitionist readers help by making a donation?

Abolitionist: We want to know all about the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (SPARE). Tell us about all the work are doing.

Mona Khalil: The Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt (SPARE) was founded in 2001. We are a registered charity in Egypt. It was founded by Mrs Amina Abaza. Simply put, SPARE cares for all animals. We work for companion animals, for equines, for the animals in zoos and in circuses. Anything that relates to animals, SPARE is involved in.

Abolitionist: What kind of specific problems does SPARE experience? For example, does Egypt have a neglected street dog problem?

Mona Khalil: For many years now there’s been a big problem with stray and homeless dogs on the streets in Egypt. The Government deals with this in two ways: We have the veterinary authority of Egypt that has used poisoning to control the stray population – either dogs or cats – and we also have the Minister of Interior where they have a department set up for the shooting of strays. The poison they use is strychnine which is a prohibited poison but never-the-less it’s imported in from India. It is getting very hard for us at SPARE because every 3 months there is a crisis campaign where the government goes out on a shooting spree. They then cut off the dead dog’s tails to count how many they have shot in a day!

Abolitionist: How is SPARE lobbying against this?

Mona Khalil: We have been against these policies for many years now. We have been in contact with several international organisations asking for help from them because we don’t have the resources to have a Spay/Neuter program in place ourselves yet. We also need training for the vets who work with us. The majority of vets come from the Facility of Veterinary Medicine and are not really familiar with the neutering operation.

We have been trying to convince the government for a very long time that the poisoning and shooting of the strays is not the solution for the problem. We have to apply the Spay/Neuter program that in the long run will be the solution but until now our efforts have not yet convinced them that this is the way to go. SPARE has conducted several specific programs in certain areas but unfortunately in the majority of those areas the Government arrived and shot all the neutered animals.

Abolitionist: SPARE has a mobile equine clinic, do you also have one for dogs too?

Mona Khalil: The mobile clinic is for donkeys only. We don’t have one yet for dogs. We received a donation from some of our friends in the United States and in Germany but that was directed towards donkeys. The mobile clinic serves in high population areas where there are donkeys who are pulling carts and carriages. These donkeys are subjected to hard labour, abuse and all kinds of injuries.

Abolitionist: Does SPARE own a shelter for donkeys?

Mona Khalil: Yes, we do have a shelter that we accommodate dogs and cats. Some of the donkeys that we have taken from their owners and in cases we have had to buy them off these people, those donkeys are not supposed to go back to work again. Amina dedicated a special area on her own farm for a donkey sanctuary that’s accommodating 21 donkeys right now. The problem with our shelter is the land we are using right now is rented land. In less than 3 years time if SPARE doesn’t manage to buy the land, we and our 123 dogs and 45 cats will be on the street.

Abolitionist: What’s the situation with the cats of Egypt? Do Egyptians have cats and dogs as companion animals generally?

Mona Khalil: Yes we definitely have Egyptians who own dogs and cats but you’ll find that these animals are quite valuable monetarily wise. You’ll find people from very high society who really love animals so they own dogs and cats but others get their animals as part of a social appearance status symbol. People who are rich, who own villas and compounds, this is part of an appearance to have a dog outside in their garden. On the other side of the coin you’ll find very poor people living on the outskirts of Cairo and big cities who usually let a stray dog on the street stay outside of their homes. They will occasionally feed her or him as if they were their own.

Many outsiders think that the position of cats in Egypt is because we have a Goddess, Bast as a Cat, that Egyptians must love cats. However, this is not true.

Abolitionist: What does the Holy Qu’ran say on the Prophet’s teachings about animals?

Mona Khalil: We have two major source teachings. First there’s the Holy Qu ‘ran and second there’s the Prophetic teachings as a source for Muslims. Both of them very clearly state that all creatures – humans, animals and plants – are to be dealt with in complete mercy. You are not to hurt them, harm them or hate them.

For a Muslim there is certain strict rules for slaughtering – Halal – as well.

Abolitionist: I know that SPARE has concerns about the recently- resumed live export trade coming out of Australia to Egypt.

Mona Khalil: Yes we definitely do have serious concerns there.

Abolitionist: The footage we have viewed from the slaughterhouses is certainly not halal.

Mona Khalil: That’s true.

Abolitionist: What’s the difference between halal and kosher?

Mona Khalil: For Muslims it is not a necessity to have a religious figure doing the slaughter himself. The necessity is to know what is required religiously to do. The animal should not see another animal being slaughtered. The animal should not be dragged to slaughter, hit or injured before slaughter. The animal must be well fed and drink before slaughtering. The animal must not see the knife, must not see or smell blood or hear the sharpening of a knife. The slaughter itself must be one direct straight cut – very quick and one cut only – so the person conducting the slaughter has to be really trained for that. Our religious edit dictates that the person slaughtering must wait a while until the animal is totally dead before they start doing any skinning. Also, the person taking the life of the animal must mention the Word of God on him or her – the animal at the time of death.

In Islam hunting is forbidden to hunt for pleasure. It is prohibited to shoot at birds, geese or ducks or hunt any animal just for the pleasure of doing it for a sport.

Abolitionist: Does Egypt have any circuses?

Mona Khalil: Yes we do.

Abolitionist: Has SPARE done any investigations or inspections into them?

Mona Khalil: Yes we have and it is horrible.

Abolitionist: What types of animals are trapped in Egyptian circuses, Mona?

Mona Khalil: The main animals you’ll find in an Egyptian circus would be lions, elephants, tigers, dogs, monkeys and donkeys.

Abolitionist: How big is protesting outside of circuses in Egypt?

Mona Khalil: It hasn’t been an area where we have put our limited time and resources into yet. We have been in contact with circus owners to try and get the conditions of the animals already in the circus’s improved. The idea of completely refusing a circus by protesting against it is new to our society. We have been trying to work with the people of the circus but unfortunately they don’t want to be cooperating at all. In addition to the fact we found out that circus owners also breed animals and then they sell this breed and so cycle goes on.

Abolitionist: How is SPARE funded?

Mona Khalil: 75% of all of SPARE’s funding comes from Amina herself. She has dedicated all that she owns and all that she has to the establishment of our shelter and it’s that what we have been spending up until now. We don’t know how long she will be able to continue. SPARE definitely needs to become more stable. We depend solely on donations and funding from the public and any interested organisations to do this.

It’s not yet very clear to us what the future holds but it is very hard on us and of course the animals. There have been times when we have not even been sure if we can continue the month out.

Abolitionist: How many volunteers does SPARE have?

Mona Khalil: We don’t have a large number but everyone that volunteers is very hands on. It has to be that way otherwise it couldn’t work. We have approximately 50 members inside and outside of Egypt. At present we’re concentrating on re-homing animals, fundraising and writing newsletters and taking care of the website.

All of the members here in Egypt are directly involved with the running of the shelter. We have rosters and we’ll all involved in walking the animals, helping the vets inside the clinic or going with them in the mobile clinic. Sometimes volunteers are even involved with indirect education. When people come over to the clinic we impress upon them what’s fair and how these animals should be treated whether it’s a dog or a cat, a donkey, horse, goat or sheep!

SPARE exists in a very poor rural area and many of the people in the surrounding areas are farmers so they cannot afford to pay for any medical treatment for their animals. Often they just neglect the animal. We are the last resort and we try educate these farmers in treating their animals in such a way that is acceptable. We have also educated farmers by offering free medical treatment and we’re starting to acquire a very good reputation in these areas which we are proud of. There are a large number of people coming to our shelter now which entails more work in the area of education.

Abolitionist: Any last thoughts?

Mona Khalil: Yes. I like to say to people reading this that the very few animal societies in Egypt are on their own. We have no support, we have no help. We are new despite the fact that we have been existing since 2001. We want to do more but we need the help of international organisations and good people who are available and interested to fund us in our endeavours.

SPARE works from out of Cairo and even then we only cover half of Cairo. I hate to think what is going on in the half that we can’t cover or extend a helping hand to. We definitely need international pressure brought to bear as we need in Egypt an Animal Law existing to help these animals. They must be taken seriously and we have to ask the civilised countries to help us pressurise for animal rights. This is not going to happen unless civilised countries and nations take a very fearless hand against what is happening to Egyptian animals or to what is happening to their animals in Egypt.

Abolitionist: Have you noticed that there has been activism from foreigners living in Egypt who have animals?

Mona Khalil: Foreigners who have their own animals and they live in Cairo come and visit us at our shelter. They come to seek medical attention or sometimes they even come to adopt an animal. A lot try to extend their help to us. There are very few however that are willing to work for animals once they go back home to their own countries like our friends in the US, Germany and Animals Australia.

Here we are introduced to Butch the disabled dog from The Society for Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt. Read his story. We are on the look out for those swanky wheelchairs for dogs so we can send any over to SPARE to at least help them help some of the handicapped animals they see every day. Can you help us? Contact us at: info@abolitionist-online.com if you wish to donate a wheelchair.

BUTCH NEEDS A WHEELCHAIR
By Mona Khalil, SPARE.

One month ago we had a lady coming to our shelter with a dog that appears to be a mix between a Mastif and Rotweiller or labrador, we are not really sure, anyway she said that he squeezed himself between to iron doors trying to follow her outside, it was obvious he could not use his back legs, we did an x ray at the faculty as we do not own one in our clinic, and the vet there said to put him down there was nothing we can do ,and when I asked is the spine broken or anything else , he said not the nerves were affected, so I said we can look for an alternative , but he even did not give us the opportunity to discuss it.

As SPARE is a no kill shelter, we decided to look for a solution. We know that handicapped animals are easily put down because here we lack the experience and the financial resources to care for them, we have seen many animals go down for no reason but lack of money and experienced vets. But I decided Butch will not be one of them. He is a male almost 2 years old, and his will for life is clear in his eyes. We are trying therapy and that was not easy to find some therapist working for humans and accept to come and work for an animal, and then we are now trying acupuncture. A Portuguese doctor generously out of his good heart accepted to do this although he only deals with humans but he said saving a life is worth it. The owners of Butch cannot afford to keep him in his condition or pay or his expenses, SPARE willingly is taking care for that now, but it is very hard as his monthly expenses are between 200 - 250 dollars a month, almost the cost of keeping 3 dogs. I am afraid that the scarce financial resources would make us lose the battle for Butch.

Thank God one of our young workers who is a dedicated animal lover is really taking care of him, he heard me talking to our vet about how to find the means of getting Butch a wheel chair. 3 days later I went to the shelter and was astonished to find a very happy WALKING Butch, although it was very primitive but Mohamed managed to give him something that made Butch really happy and Mohamed had only heard me talking about a wheel chair and he made it from his very naive thinking,

Butch is a repeated story in many places here but such animals lose their lives easily unnecessarily for nothing , we really need a fund for handicapped animals, to be able to save lives , and we need specialised organisations in handicapped animals to extend a helping had to small societies like us, we have the passion and care but need help.

SPARES website: http://www.sparealife.org