News
MENAW: Finding old friends
December 31, 2007, 9:37PM MT
By Sharon St. Joan
Catching up on news
Catching up on news
By Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends Network
The MENAW Conference was a great opportunity to catch up with some old friends of Best Friends.
Update from Iran
Fatemeh Motamedi, who started the Center for Animal Lovers, in Iran, who first visited Best Friends several years ago, and who is now living in the U.S., wasn't able to attend the conference herself. Nor was Lida Esnaashari, the Shelter Manager in Iran, who we were fortunate to meet last year in India at the Asia for Animals Conference.
However, we were delighted to meet Parisa Salehi, who we've known up until now only by phone and email. Parisa, Fatemeh's daughter, is an attorney, living and working in Washington D.C. Being in close touch with their shelter in Iran, she was able to give a good update about their organization's work there.
Around 200 rescued dogs are being cared for at the Center for Animal Lovers shelter, and about 50 cats have been placed in foster homes. Things are generally going well, though there is still a need for more funding. Parissa told us that the mayor of the town near the shelter (about an hour west of Teheran) loves dogs, and that that is a great help.
They're focusing on education and on translating literature into Farsi, so that they can inspire in more Iranian young people a desire to treat all animals with kindness. Parisa told us that she was really enjoying attending the conference and having the chance to meet people from so many countries who really care abut animals.
News from BETA in Lebanon
If you remember the airlift of the three hundred dogs and cats out of the war zone in Lebanon to the safety of Best Friends, in 2006, then you'll recall Maggie Shaarawi, one of the Founders of BETA, who had been courageously caring for the animals during the war in Beirut, in spite of falling bombs and constant danger.
Maggie and her colleague, Jason Mier, now the Executive Director of BETA, gave a presentation at the MENAW Conference about BETA's experiences caring for animals on the streets of Beirut during the conflict, and since then, in the war's aftermath.
During the war, Maggie herself charged daily into bombed neighborhoods, among unsafe, collapsing buildings to feed the cats there.
Their presentation included a generous acknowledgement of help received from Best Friends, made possible by the kindness of Best Friends members!
I hadn't met Jason Mier previously, and he's certainly making a difference to the work of BETA.
In 2001, he was volunteering at the Mona Foundation in Spain, where he was caring for seven chimps. In the six years since then, he's traveled through about twenty countries in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly in order to help chimps, and occasionally other primates. In the Congo, he lived in the bush, where chimps were living directly above him in the trees. He could hear them everyday, but they never allowed themselves to be seen.
About two years ago, he began helping BETA place baboons, vervets, and macaques, including a baboon couple, Linda and Kevin, who had come from a pet shop on the southeastern outskirts of Beirut. BETA placed them at the Cefn-yr-erw primate sanctuary in Wales, (http://www.cefn-yr-erw.co.uk ) where the primate couple have since had a baby.
Being the only animal rescue group in Lebanon, BETA has had a fair number of difficulties to contend with--especially, that the level of their fundraising never quite seemed to catch up with the increasing numbers of animals that people were bringing to them.
Immediately following the war (and mostly because of the war), a lot more animals were coming into the shelter, but a lot fewer funds were coming in at the same time. So things were slipping downhill.
As Executive Director, Jason has introduced some really effective measures to get the boat back on the right course, so to speak, including giving people who want to turn in their animals some other options they can try first. The number of dogs and cats that BETA is having to take in, has really decreased--by 10% over three months.
They were all very pleased when a raffle raised $8,000, and ticket holders were pleased too when they won great prizes! First prize was two plane tickets to Dubai; among other prizes were perfumes and computer printers.
The winter is rainy in Lebanon--not really great for the animals. There are still significant needs--such as a real cat shelter for the cats, who are still living in apartments. The dogs are still living in the modified pig farm that was donated to BETA for the dogs during the war--so a new dog headquarters is needed too.
All in all, though, Maggie, Jason, Joelle and the others have made some huge gains at BETA--getting onto a much firmer financial footing--and helping people to explore other options for their animals, so that not every animal has to come into BETA's shelter.
These very dedicated people have been making major accomplishments that will pave the way for BETA to plan a better future for their shelter, as they help the animals of Lebanon.
Photo: Best Friends / Golan, who was injured during the Lebanon war and rescued by BETA, after being airlifted to Best Friends, is now living happily with his new person, Pat.
What you can do
The Center for Animal Lovers
It is illegal to send donations from the U.S. to shelters in Iran, and, as a consequence, there is no website through which donations can be sent.
BETA
You may visit BETA's website at
http://animals.beirut.com
To read Amy Abern's story of Golan and Pat (in the photo), please go to:
http://network.bestfriends.org/middleeast/news/13295.html
To show your support for animal groups working in the Middle East, please join the Egypt Community. Thank you!