Abu Dhabi: An animal welfare group has sterilised more than 1,500 stray cats living on the streets of Abu Dhabi in just under two years, with the group looking to reduce the city’s high cat population.
“Basically what the sterilisation does is that it decreases the population of cats in a humane fashion, and the reason we have undertaken this project is because there are far too many cats around Abu Dhabi,” said Dr Susan L J Aylott, the founder of Animal Welfare Abu Dhabi.
“Over 1,500 cats have been sterilised so far, and our aim is to continue on because you need to do this routinely in order to be successful. Cats can reproduce very quickly, two cats turn into 22 cats in a matter of months, so if this is not done regularly, and you miss some cats you can end up going back to square one,” she added.
Dr Aylott explained that the sterilisation drive was being done for the interest of the cats themselves, noting some objections cat lovers in Abu Dhabi may have towards the programme.
“We do get a few people who don’t like what we are doing, and they tell us that it’s not fair on the animals. I believe we do need to change the mindset of some people and to educate them on the matter, and to show them that this is the best thing to do for the animals in terms of their health.
“The problem is that many cats living on the streets are not in good condition, and an increase in the population is going to just make it worst.
“Everyday there are tens of cats just being run over on the streets, and many cases of kittens being rescued from the highways, or rescued from jumping into car engines,” she added.
Dr Aylott also noted that having so many stray cats living on the streets of Abu Dhabi was not a good image to present. “Research has shown that tourists don’t want to come to a destination where they see sick cats, they don’t want to be someplace where they see cats roaming the streets half starved and dehydrated,” she said.
“We want the cats around, they are incredibly beautiful cats, this is their home, and they are absolutely a part of the city’s heritage. So we want to keep them, but just not at the current numbers we have at the moment, it’s harming their welfare and health,” she added.
Dr Aylott said that the sterilisation programme was also carried out in a humane way, and that the trapping process was only done by certified and trained volunteers.
“The cats are trapped humanely in a cage, once we have them trapped we then transfer them directly to the veterinary in air-conditioned vehicles, and then the sterilisation is carried out at the clinic.
“Before the cats are checked out we also make sure that everything is OK with them and that they are healthy. The cats are also ear clipped so that when you see them on the streets you can see they have a little ear clip out of their left ear, which lets us know they have been sterilised,” she added.
“For this programme we have only have a certain number of our volunteers involved in the trapping because we only use volunteers who have been trained to an international recognised standard. So all our volunteers who take part are qualified and have a certificate of competency,” she said.
Dr Aylott also pointed out that the group receives no funding or money for their programme, and that it is all out of pocket, and out of their own free time.
Volunteers who want to help and join Animal Welfare Abu Dhabi can do so on their official Facebook page.