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Egypt to Announce Final Verdict on Stray Dog Killings This July

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Egypt to Announce Final Verdict on Stray Dog Killings This July
written by
Cairo 360

Featured image via Egyptian Streets

 

When you watch the news and witness gut-wrenching footage of innocent victims being murdered on a daily basis all around the world, how do you feel? Furious? Helpless? Guilty? Whatever your personal feeling may be, it can be almost as bad when you witness stray dogs being slaughtered right in front of you. Even though official estimates state that the number of people bitten by stray dogs from 2014 to 2017 reached a total of 1.3 million, 231 of whom subsequently died, according to Egypt Independent, stray dogs deserve to be given a voice to choose, just like any other human being. The ultimate death penalty cannot be the only solution.

In December 2018, Albawaba news stated that lawyer Mostafa Shaaban Mohamed and a group of animal rights activists filed a lawsuit before the Administrative Court of the State Council, demanding that the government stop the indiscriminate killing of stray dogs and cats, as well as cease the export of their meat to foreign countries, where eating such animals is the norm. The case was addressed to the President, Ministers of Local Development, Investment, Agriculture, and both Interior and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Chairman of the General Authority for Veterinary Sciences.    

The lawsuit discussed the brutal national campaigns dedicated to killing the street animals through unspeakable methods, such as poison, bullets, or exporting them abroad to be killed and eaten. The official complaint stressed on the fact that the violent termination of these species destroys the ecological balance of nature, contradicts both legal and religious laws, and makes urban cities and villages vulnerable to other predators and rodents, such as mice, wolves, and snakes.

Things seem to be gradually turning around. Firstly, the Minister of Agriculture, Ezzeddin Abu Steit, stated that the government is ready to fully cooperate with civil society organisations to overcome this crisis. Secondly, the Administrative Court set July 31 as the date to decide the outcome of this critical lawsuit. We really hope and pray that the final verdict leans in favour of the 15 million stray dogs out there that desperately need our help to survive.    

 

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