CAIRO - Trade in dogs, including expensive species, has risen in Cairo as the lack of security has reached high levels since January 25, sellers and shop owners have said. Dogs, estimated to be worth LE3 million, have been sold since last January, they claimed, adding that the figure was expected to rise as long as the police are keeping a low profile and the people feel insecure. "As the security crisis deepens, the demand for dogs rises, boosting sales of German Shepherds and Rod Filler, which are used for protection purposes," Hassan Youssef, a dog trader in the Cairo neighbourhood of Shubra said. Youssef, who sells a German Shepherd puppy for LE600 (around 100 dollars), said that trade in dogs has exceeded the food trade thanks to lack of police and the presence of armed street gangs in remote areas of the city, which has an estimated population of 18 million. However, he expressed fears that these dogs would fall into the wrong hands, which would use them to terrorise the people. "These dogs are considered high profit and low-risk," he said, lamenting the fact that some gang members raise these attack dogs against their fellow Egyptians. Abdul Aziz said that the gangs used highly trained dogs for extorting money from the people. “At the present situation, I expect a boom in dog sales," he said, warning of potential high risk of a public security threat because of the improper use of these dogs by some people. But his business partner, Abdul Rahman Sayyed, said that the use of dogs to stop anyone trying to enter people's homes or property illegally is a new phenomenon, which has only been occurring for about six months. "Many people in rich or poor Cairo districts resort to using dogs in protecting their homes and shops against thieves and intruders," Sayyed, a secondary school student, said. Ahmed Saber, who has a stand at el-Sayyeda Aisha Flea Market in southern Cairo, said that he had sold a male two-year-old Great Dan for LE3,000 to a Cairo businessman. "This dog is brought up to protect your house or farm," Saber, a university student, said, adding that the Great Dan is a very dangerous and fierce breed of dogs that are trained to attack intruders and cause severe bodily injuries to them. Saber recalled an incident in which one of his Great Dan dogs attacked a thug, who terrorised the residents of the street where he lives. "It broke his hand. He had to undergo surgery in order to save his finger from being amputated," he said, adding that he could not help stop the dog, whom he named Whisky. The price of a Bulldog soared from LE15,000 to LE30,000 a piece since January 25, according to him. Egypt has been hit by a wave of violence over recent months. Meanwhile, Ali Rashwan, a pet shop owner, said that fears of rising crime due to the lack of security have been sending dog sales sky high, and a big demand for ‘man's best and most faithful friend' during the past month. Rashwan said that several hundred people thronged his shop in Heliopolis, where the famous breeds like Black Jacks, Silver Jacks, Great Dans, and Bulldogs are sold. "I have had a huge increase in sales since January 28 just after the police disappeared from Cairo streets," Rashwan added. He said that he had sold more than 500 dogs in March and April alone. "The high rates of crime since the revolution have increased dogs sales," Rashwan said, adding that he had got a lot of new buyers, especially owners of villas and farms. Fawzi Faheem, who came to Rashwan's shop to buy the first dog in his life, said that he feels unsafe in his neighbourhood and decided he needed a means of self-defence. "Two weeks ago, my family members were threatened by someone with a gun," Faheem, a bank teller said, adding that he wanted to buy a wolf dog now that the police proved to be ineffective to protect the people. The worries over security are strong enough to overcome reluctance among Egyptians to use dogs because of Islamic religious taboos that consider dogs unclean animals. While private security firms use sniffing dogs to protect five-star hotels and shopping malls, Egyptians relied on them far less because of religious reasons. "Our culture is different from the European culture and the American culture," said Hajja Madeiha, who refuses to buy a dog. Besides the religious sensitivities, Hajja Madeiha, a widow living in a villa, said she is simply not used to owning dogs to meet her security needs. In addition, the dog, itself, costs about LE1,000 a piece, Hajja Madeiha said. "That does not include the cost of the dogs' needs from food to medical care over its life span," she said. However, Rashwan said that he does not believe the police dogs will change some Muslim feelings about canines. "I believe many people will come to understand the usefulness of dogs and how good they work for protecting their lives and property. They are man's best friend," he said.
