Egypt parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal announced in a morning plenary session on Sunday that a committee will be formed to tackle the widespread problem of stray dogs in Egypt's streets. "I received a letter from animal care institutions urging MPs to deal with the problem of stray dogs in a humane way," said Abdel-Aal, adding that “the committees of agriculture and local administration will hold meetings to prepare a report on how to deal with the issue in a way that ensures people's safety and guarantees the humane treatment of animals.” "Stray dogs have become ubiquitous in the streets, threatening the lives of many citizens, particularly children," said Abdel-Aal, though he stressed that Egypt's 2014 constitution states that animals should be treated in a humane manner. "Political parties, civil society organisations and parliament should keep this in mind, particularly when dealing with the problem of stray dogs," said Abdel-Aal. Abdel-Aal said he expects that the committee will formulate new methods of ridding the country of stray dogs. Ahmed El-Sigini, head of the local administration committee, said that his committee held a series of hearing sessions on the problem of stray dogs last year. "We held meetings on this dangerous problem with representatives of civil society organisations and the government on how to contain the problem of stray dogs, and I think we have reasonable solutions that will be included in the report," said El-Sigini.
