CAIRO: For several weeks, Beirut and its suburbs have been witnessing repeated campaigns of government shootings of stray dogs, the last of which occurred on the morning of November 10 in Horsh Beirut, the Beirut People for the Ethical Treatement of Animals (BETA) said in a press statement on Monday. “BETA condemns such practices, which have been occurring under various pretexts and which have chosen primitive methods consisting of poisoning animals or of shooting them in clear sight of the people,” BETA said in the press statement. Earlier this month, a Lebanese municipality police station went onto the streets in a Beirut neighborhood on Wednesday and shot dozens of stray dogs. After the violence ended, police walked away, leaving the carnage of the murder for all to see. “It is shocking and disturbing to think that our government has done this,” Lena Bashara, a resident living near Beirut's Hegaz street told Bikya Masr via telephone on Thursday morning. Eyewitnesses said they saw mothers attempt to defend their puppies as police came into the area shooting. According to one report, police were targeting the puppies specifically. “One puppy we vaccinated and was very friendly went to hide behind his mom and the porter, but the policeman shouted at the porter and told him he does not move he will shoot him too,” said Khaled Hesham Halawa, an animal welfare advocate in Lebanon. “The puppy was killed in front of his mom.” Moreover, the remains of the animals have been left lying in the middle of roads thus undermining public health, causing tremendous environmental damage and directly harming tourism. BETA said it has received a constant flow of telephone complaints from local residents complaining over the government's policy. “A number of tourists have expressed their desire not to return to Lebanon because of the horrible scenes they witnessed,” BETA's Toufic Yannieh told Bikya Masr via email. BETA has contacted local authorities expressing its readiness to support municipalities in solving problems related to stray animals. It suggested scientific methods to limit the numbers of the animals such as spaying and neutering, a method proven by recent studies to be the only long term solution for limiting the numbers of stray dogs. “BETA confirms that the inhumane & violent methods that are used contradict with the humane values the Lebanese people pride themselves on and with the image of a civilized country they so cherish,” the group said. “BETA also stresses that the violent eradication of animals does not solve the problem of stray animals in Beirut or in other regions. The most evidence proof of this failure is that these practices have been ongoing for several years and have clearly not been able to remedy the problem. No matter how often these violent measures are repeated, the results will remain the same,” the statement continued. “It is time to move on to a different direction in dealing with the stray population in Lebanon. We hope that the people in charge will respond positively with the most effective way to control it. BETA gets quite often calls from panicked pet guardians whose dogs were poisoned by the leftovers of contaminated food destined to the strays in their district. A good understanding of the solution will definitely satisfy everybody”, said Helena Husseini, vice-president of BETA. BETA has called on the country's ministries of agriculture, interior, health and environment as well as the governors of Beirut and neighboring districts to “stop, refrain or oppose directives demanding the eradication of dogs or any other stray animal in this manner.” In August, the Burj Hammoud neighborhood in Beirut was warned that the government would begin shooting dogs. “Burj Hammoud town municipality announces launching a campaign against stray dogs night and day,” the statement warned. “So we ask citizens not to panic when hearing gun shots and coordinate with the police officials to end this phenomena [stray dogs].” According to leading animal rights organization Animals Lebanon, the shooting of stray dogs is “nothing new” to the country. Jason Mier, Animals Lebanon's Executive Director, argued that this sort of announcement to the public is “taking the killing to a different level by warning people in a densely populated area not to be worried if they hear guns being fired.” The rights group told Bikya Masr in August that they were contacting the municipality's officials in an attempt to get them to stop with the killing. They have also made calls to their support groups and on their Facebook page for residents and Lebanese citizens to contact the government to end the killing of animals. “This action is illegal under the Lebanese and international animal laws,” Mier said. Across the region, including in Egypt, police have often been deployed to shoot stray dogs when local residents complain. Although it is not new, rights groups such as Animals Lebanon and others have regularly condemned such actions. One problem facing the region when it comes to stray animals is the lack of appropriate shelters to host strays, which means the government can argue they have little choice in the slaughter. BM
