Muscat: There is a growing need for a programme to trap, neuter and release the stray cats and dogs that roam the streets of Muscat and to find homes for the increasing number of abandoned pets, say animal welfare activists in Oman.
As Muscat develops and spreads, it takes over wadis that used to be habitats for wild dogs, who can now be found in any neighbourhood in the city. There are also thousands of stray cats who, left unchecked, quickly reproduce and grow in numbers.
Dr Elke Heitz, owner and head veterinarian at Al Qurum Veterinary Clinic, says to reduce the number of strays, a programme called TNR (trap, neuter and release) is the most effective solution.
"It's the most humane way to do it. It's the only long-term solution. We don't euthanise healthy animals," Heitz explains.
To maintain a low number of strays, 80 per cent of the females need to be spayed, she says. In most European countries, pets have to be neutered and registered, so as a result, there are very few street animals.
Currently, there is no programme to deal with the strays in the city, though Heitz says it's an issue that Muscat Municipality is looking into. In the meantime, the solution has been to shoot the stray dogs. But Heitz is among a number of people in Muscat who are trying to change this approach.
Groups like Omani Paws and Animal Rescue Center in Muscat, which also has a facebook page called Animal Adoption & Fostering – Oman, are doing all they can to rescue stray and abandoned animals and have them neutered before finding them homes, or if they are too wild, putting them back on the streets where at least they won't be able to reproduce.
Currently, Heitz has 26 cats at her clinic that are in need of homes. Omani Paws also has more than a dozen dogs that need adopting. Since Omani Paws was founded in November, they have found homes for 39 dogs and five cats, and funded TNR for seven stray cats.
Need is much higher
On an average, Heitz spays 70 to 80 stray cats a month. This may sound like a lot, but in reality Heitz says the need is much higher. Ideally, she would be treating 10 to 12 stray cats a day.
The stray and abandoned creatures are neutered at cost, which means Heitz loses money on the treatments, but she continues to do it because it's a cause she strongly believes in.
"The first thing is if I neuter them, fewer cats will be brought in later, and the other thing is that it's the client service. If the clients can afford to neuter a few stray cats (at cost) I'm happy to support it," she says.
Abandoned pets
Most of the animals living on Muscat's streets are descendants of strays, but there are also a number of abandoned pets.
People discard them for various reasons. Children may adopt animals but their parents don't want them, the families get bored with the animals because they are no longer playful, they can't afford them, or when moving out of the country people simply leave their animals behind rather than paying the costs of bringing the pets with them.
"Before you take a pet, think through it. Know it's a pet-lifetime commitment," advises Wendy Ligier-Troost, who helped found Omani Paws.
Lynsey Jarvie, a British woman who recently moved from Oman to Spain, is in the midst of having her cat, Lubo, shipped from Muscat. She has paid OMR 781 for the paperwork, shipping, crates and food dishes, health checks, and veterinary stays.
"He is our family pet, we decided to buy him knowing that we weren't going to be in Oman for years and knew that we would have to ship him. The cost was a huge shock to us, but what else could we do?" Jarvie says.
Despite the costs she and her family didn't want to give up their pet, but if they had, she says they would have been sure to find him a good home first.
"It's a very expensive process getting your pet out of Oman and I can understand why people leave pets behind, but don't just abandon them. If we had decided to leave Lubo behind then I would have dedicated a lot of my time to rejoining him," she explains.
Ligier-Troost says that when Omani Paws is re-homing animals, it screens the families first in hopes that the animals will go to permanent, loving homes, and they do check-ups on the animals after.
They ask the families to send photos and feedback so they can ensure the animals are being well cared for. Once in awhile the animals are sent back, but most have ended up in happy situations.
One lucky puppy, Jack, who was rescued by the Omani Paws group, found a home with Valeria Thomson, an Australian resident of Muscat. Jack is the second wadi dog Valeria and her husband have adopted here.
"My husband and I have only ever taken rescue dogs. They're the ones in need of love and care. It's inhumane not to care for stray animals," Valeria says, adding that if they ever leave Oman, the dogs will go with them, regardless of the costs.
For the people volunteering for the animal welfare organisations in Muscat, the work can be rewarding but also very tough. Meg Barrett, who is a member of the group Animal Rescue Center, says that one summer their group needed to find homes for 27 dogs.
Emotionally draining
"It was very draining, physically and emotionally. You can ask anyone in the adoption and helping animals field, as much as you try, each individual case sticks with you. We had some horrific cases of animal cruelty that one can only imagine!" Barrett says.
In fact, animal cruelty is a growing concern among animal welfare organisations and veterinary clinics in.
Nada Al Moosa, from Omani Paws, says recently she's come across animals that have been tortured by children. Four puppies were found in Darsait, one of which had had its head smashed with a rock. The other three were rescued before the same fate hit them.
In Seeb there was a case where three boys beat three puppies to death with sticks, which some teenage boys in Darsait were caught stabbing puppies with long sticks that had nails on the ends, she adds.
"All this misery. In the last year I came across a lot of really desperate animals, injured, scarred. It's not easy to find homes for them," Al Moosa notes.
One dog, Brodo, was attacked with acid, along with its brother. The flesh on one of his legs was badly burned, but thanks to a lot of love and care, and months of painful healing, he's now living happily with the people who rescued him.
"His brother started licking himself so all his organs were destroyed and he died, but Brodo is our brave boy. He made it," Al Moosa explains.
Al Moosa says that with a proper TNR program in Muscat, there would be fewer animals subjected to such cruelty. She also says it's very important to educated people about the need to care for animals, regardless of whether they like them or not.
"Education is very important. If you don't like them, don't come near them. But don't harm them," she says.
As summer approaches, the number of abandoned animals will rise as expats leave Oman without taking the time to re-home their pets, or locals go on holidays without ensuring proper care for their cats or dogs.
"The time is coming now when people are dumping animals again because they're leaving in summer. They often say that where they're going, they can't take the animals, but that is usually wrong. There are not many countries that can't be shipped to. It's almost always possible," Heitz says.
Despite the uphill battle they face, those looking out for the four-legged creatures won't give up.
"I'm more determined than ever. I want to do this no matter what it takes," says Al Moosa. "I wasn't an animal person four years ago, but I adopted my first cat and everything changed."
For more information, visit the following sites:
To get in touch with the reporter: sarah@timesofoman.com
