Two ministers and the governor of Cairo on Monday opened the capital’s first shelter for stray dogs, a 5,000 sq m site east of the Autostrad road in El Tebbin, south of the city.
Manal Awad, minister of local development and environment, Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk and Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber toured the facility alongside representatives of civil society and animal welfare groups, according to a statement from the local development ministry.
The shelter can hold about 700 dogs. It has 112 rooms, each housing up to three dogs, two equipped operating theatres, a veterinary pharmacy, isolation rooms for sick animals, and rooms for feeding, administration and security. Outside there are green spaces, an exercise area and two pools used for treatment and to cool the dogs in summer.
A team of vets will examine the dogs, carry out sterilisation and other surgery, and give vaccinations, including against rabies.
Sterilise, vaccinate, rehome
Awad said the shelter was an important step in the state’s efforts to manage stray dogs using scientific and sustainable methods that balance public health and safety with animal welfare. She called the problem a shared responsibility between the state, civil society and animal welfare groups.
Farouk said shelters were a central part of the government’s approach, which relies on vaccination against rabies and sterilisation to curb the spread of disease and uncontrolled breeding. He said the state would keep training vets and technical staff at the General Organisation for Veterinary Services to carry out screening, vaccination and sterilisation programmes.
Saber said the shelter was part of the governorate’s response to residents’ complaints about stray dogs on the streets. He described it as a first phase that the governorate plans to repeat in other districts if it succeeds.
Adoption and funding
The shelter will offer dogs for adoption once their health has been checked and they have received all required vaccinations and certificates, the governor said. Animal welfare groups and civil society organisations will be involved in running it.
The project was built by the Cairo governorate with the agriculture ministry and the General Organisation for Veterinary Services. The Egyptian Chinese University provided medical supplies and helped vaccinate the dogs.
Karima Abdel Karim, chair of the university’s board of trustees, said the university had already given about EGP1mn along with students, doctors and medical supplies, and announced a further EGP5mn donation to fund new shelters in Cairo.
