News
Cairo: A glimmer of hope
September 04, 2008, 9:4PM MT
By Sharon St. Joan
The downtown pups
The downtown pups
A caring young homeless boy and a senior woman showed kindness and love in an otherwise awful situation. Thanks to their cross-generational efforts, seven puppies have a new lease on life and the chance to find forever homes. Here is their rescue story.
The downtown pups
By Ahmed Diab, Best Friends Network Volunteer
Edited by Tanya Mahrous, Best Friends Network Volunteer
Anoushka had made an emergency phone call to Amr, a board member for Aware Organization, pleading for help with a terrible situation. She was looking after a stray mother dog and her eight puppies, and they desperately needed to be transferred soon, as she feared for their lives. Anoushka, President of Touch of Life, had been assisting this helpless family of nine living on the streets in Mohandiseen, a part of downtown Cairo known for its modern cafes and fancy clothing shops. It was no place for a mother dog to give birth, but for some reason, her logic and instinct urged her to do so.
Anoushka first heard of this family on the AWAR site, an internet based group where animal lovers can meet and discuss their concerns and help each other out. She had volunteered to visit the puppies every other day and to give them a hand as much as she could. Unfortunately, all the shelters were full so they could not take the mom or her puppies - so life on the street continued.
During one of Anoushka’s visits to feed the family, she met a senior woman who lived in the neighborhood. The woman offered to feed the dogs daily and Anoushka happily provided her with money for food. However, even with the kindness shown by this woman, Anoushka knew the dogs were running out of time. She was concerned that someone would complain to authorities and their lives would be tragically ended, as is the fate of many stray dogs in Egypt.
The Rescue
One day, Anoushka’s worst fears were realized. A few hours before the congregational prayer on Friday, the woman called Anoushka, crying and urging her to come fast. She had heard gunshots and knew authorities were hunting the young family. Anoushka rushed over, only to learn it was too late to save the young mom and one of her puppies; she was devastated and weeping. She held the young mom in her arms one last time and, feeling hopeless, took the lifeless body to the person who had complained to the authorities and asked “Is this what you wanted?"
Anoushka called Amr and me and asked us to hurry. We rushed as fast as we could, but we were late arriving as we punctured a tire on our way and had to get it repaired. Dina, a co-founder of AWAR called too, concerned about Anoushka’s state of mind and the remaining puppies. We felt helpless, as though the odds were stacked against us.
When we arrived, Anoushka was sitting on the ground with a young boy, with the seven remaining puppies who sat traumatized in a garden median in the middle of a busy two-way street. She tried to calm them down, although she needed support herself for she was crushed from what happened. Anoushka introduced us to Osama, the young boy who was sitting with her. We learned he was a homeless boy who had protected the puppies and the mother from anybody who tried to harm them. This touched our heart, as it was contrary to what we believed a young homeless boy would do. Anoushka told us that during one of her visits, she was ecstatic at what she saw – the love this young homeless boy had for the puppies. She had found Osama sleeping on the side of a road with 7 of the puppies, cuddling and warming each other in the cold month of December. Anoushka had brought him and the puppies a blanket and thanked him for his tender heart and kindness.
While we were all upset, we knew it was time to rescue the remaining puppies. They were very timid, scared and stressed, and to our surprise, trusted only Osama to pick them up. He caught all the puppies and placed them in our cars and they were all transferred to SPARE (Society for Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt), which had graciously offered to spay and neuter the puppies at no cost. Bahraa, the President of ESMA (Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals) offered a temporary solution to keep the puppies on land she owned until they could find room at the shelter. The puppies now are cared for by ESMA, and they are up for adoption, thanks to the dedicated hard work and passionate efforts of Anoushka, Osama and the senior woman. It took the teamwork of everybody to create a happy ending for the remaining puppies.
Wanting to help Osama, Anoushka fostered him temporarily and hoped to find him a permanent home. As she went through the legal procedures, Osama kept asking about the puppies and mentioned how he wanted to go live with them. Anoushka promised to take him to visit the puppies, but sadly, Osama ran away after a couple of weeks. She has not given up and is still hopeful she will find him soon.
A Young Homeless Boy Offers Hope
Living on the streets is no way for a young boy to live; it is a tough life with much uncertainty and many dangers. In his time of darkness, a young homeless boy named Osama befriended a scared stray mom and her puppies and opened up his heart to their love.
While some people may simply see sadness in this situation, the dedicated animal volunteers here in Egypt see a glimmer of hope. For, too often, there is no happy ending. We know that change will take time, and we cling to the belief that one person can make a difference. We cling to the kindness of the senior woman, who likely risked ridicule from others in order to feed the "baladi," the street dogs. We cling to the belief there are many more young Osama’s who love and respect animals. And most importantly, we cling to the hope of a better life for animals in Egypt.
How You Can Help
You may donate funds or volunteer your time with the animal welfare groups in Egypt:
http://www.sparealife.org
http://www.esmaegypt.org
Posted by Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends Network
Photo: © Rechitan Sorin | Dreamstime.com