CAIRO: Animal welfare groups in Egypt are crying foul and demanding a government explanation over the poisoning of cats and dogs in two separate locations over the past few days that has seen scores of animals dead. At the Shooting Club in Dokki – a popular club in the Cairo suburb – the Egyptians Society for Mercy to Animals (ESMA) reported on Saturday that the Egyptian authorities used poison, allegedly used strychnine or arsenic around the club in what club officials said was an effort to “reduce the annoyance” of stray cats. But ESMA said the cats were “slowly and painfully dying.” Strychnine causes muscular convulsion and kills through asphyxiation or sheer exhaustion. It can kill children quite readily. Then, the club officials in coordination with the government, “collected them in bags and threw them out. “The whole club is covered with illegally and internationally forbidden poison,” ESMA said, adding that these poisons could “seriously harm you and your kids.” In the Cairo area of Nasr City, at least 20 dogs were also poisoned, with one welfare advocate lamenting that “the government has no humanity.” The dogs bodies were confirmed by local residents to have been strewn on the side of roads and the government, as of Saturday, had not removed the bodies. It is not the first time the government murders animals in the Egyptian capital. Over the past few years, despite assurances from the ministry of agriculture – which oversees animals in the country – poison has often been used to “curtail” the stray animals dilemma. Dina Zulfikar, a leading activist, in a previous interview with Bikyamasr.com said that the government should do more “to spay and neuter cats and dogs on the streets because this will reduce their population. “Poisoning the animals is wrong and does nothing to help the animal situation,” she added. ESMA is the leading animal welfare organization in Egypt, has a large shelter, and despite the antagonism it has received by average Egyptians and the government for its efforts to support animals, continues its work and publicizes the ongoing atrocities committed by the government and private organizations such as the Shooting Club. BM
