It's worst summer for homeless pets

Dubai: Animal rescue groups have renewed appeals to pet owners to act responsibly after being inundated with unwanted dogs and cats since the start of summer.

One animal lover has seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of pets she must find homes for as people dumped their animals when they left the UAE for the summer.

Dog welfare group K9 Friends described this summer as its worst ever for unwanted dogs and is having to overcrowd its kennels just to house the animals.

Jackie Ratcliffe, K9's chairwoman, said the current influx was "unbelievable". "We've never known it this bad. It's awful," she said, adding that at its Al Barsha headquarters, the group was having to keep three dogs in a cage instead of the two the kennels were designed for. Ratcliffe said things were doubly bad because many people who temporarily foster dogs for K9 Friends were away for the summer.

Ajman resident Sally Bigland now has 19 unwanted dogs and 13 cats she has to find homes for - compared to just 13 dogs and nine cats a month ago.

She said: "My dog numbers have gone up very quickly because people are abandoning dogs as they don't want to pay for kennels [over the summer] or there aren't enough kennels. They just dump them." Janet Small, a volunteer for Feline Friends in Dubai, said the group was having to put down many unwanted cats because it had nowhere to keep them until homes were found. "We are putting to sleep a lot of animals as there's only so much we can do," she said. Small said most kittens tended to be born in the summer months and this, coupled with the problem of animals being dumped in the season, was increasing the numbers of unwanted cats. "There are people who think they can just leave their cat on the street and it will be all right, but it won't be all right. There are too many people who just don't bother," she said.

Feline Friends had to rescue a Persian cat left dumped in a carrying box beside a waste bin. "People get fed up with hearing about animal charities being weighed down, but we have so many people here who don't sterilise their own cats and that makes things worse," Small said.

Appeal

Anyone who can offer a home to a cat or a dog can contact Sally Bigland on 050-529-9096, Feline Friends on 050-451-0058 or K9 Friends on 04-347-4611.