Mass poisoning campaign strikes Egypt

Yesterday evening an alert was sent out via Facebook that mass amounts of poison had been laid in the residential suburb of Maadi, in Cairo. The Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals posted the following to their page: "TO ALL MAADI PET OWNERS: Please avoid the streets with your pets for the next 48 hours, to avoid the mass poisoning currently taking place. 25 bags of poisoned meat have been located, and removed. We are currently forming a search party to determine if there are anymore bags laid, and to find any animals that may be in need of assistance."


The message quickly went viral, with animal rights groups and activists alike posting it to forums, re-posting to their own statuses or sending out messages containing the information. 


It did not take long for Hurghada animal rights activists to see the message and immediately question if the same case was true for Hurghada. In the past few weeks, activists here have seen an increase in the poisoning campaigns, despite word from the new Governor that the government would cease and desist such attempts to control the stray population and give activists a chance to implement Trap, Neuter and Release, or TNR programmes. 


I was told about two months back by a source that requested anonymity that the same 'deal' was made for the Cairo governorates. Animal shelters were told they had a set period of a few weeks to organize and launch a TNR campaign in the capital city and reduce the number of animals that were able to breed. Inter-organizational bureaucracy however hindered this process. My source informed me that due to the fact that two of the largest organizations in Cairo were unable to agree on who should cover the costs and fundraising for the TNR programme, the time they were given elapsed. The result was a mass poison campaign launched by the government. The pre-arranged deal however was immediately denied and brushed under the table, with the finger of blame pointed squarely at the government. 


Similar in Hurghada, as I have previously blogged, a TNR campaign was launched by activists here. Thus far the programme is proving to be successful as more and more local residents get in on it. The Blue Moon animal shelter has been instrumental in providing free services for stray animals in their attempts to control the stray population. So why did the poisoning campaign launched in Cairo reach Hurghada? 


Activists last night combed the area of Mubarak 6, but their search was hindered by the lack of light in the area. They have again headed out today to track down and remove any bags of poison that may have been laid out. Eye witnesses report that a blue pick-up truck has been seen roaming through the area and pausing intermittently near trash sites - often the location that the poisoned bags of meat are thrown down. This brings to mind the comments of Hurghada's governor, who had 'promised' that the poison campaigns would stop. Activists have claimed that should any bags of poison be traceable back to the government campaigns, that these bags of poison will be marched up to the governor's office directly to demand why he has fallen through on his rhetoric. By the time this blog has gone to post, I have been unable to independently verify that the poisoning campaign in Cairo has spread to Hurghada - and our local government vet has denied any government involvement in cases of poisoning in Hurghada. 


Does this then mean that it is individual residents placing the poisoned meat out? In many cases the answer is sadly yes. Alleged reports indicate that a restaurant owner on the beautiful corniche area has himself planted poison on the beach as the strays disrupt the peace and quiet of the area. Never an after-thought to the individual pets that are afflicted by their decisions to lay down the poisoned meat, or the danger that such toxins pose to humans.


I scoured Hadaba this morning and thankfully was unable to find any bags of poisoned meat, although this does not mean that it is not there. Often in Hadaba the poison is laid in the desert; knowing this I will never take Orien in there. The threat of poison is not limited to dog owners however, and the common poison of choice strychinine is known to prove fatal in cases where children are exposed to the toxin. However as autopsies are not a common practice in Egypt, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly and say "this child's death was the result of the government's poisoning campaign."  


At the end of the day, words are only words. Activists in Egypt have been given no reason to believe that mass poisoning campaigns will ever be stopped, and as long as it's seen as an effective way to eliminate the stray population those laying poison down have no reason to change. For all pet owners throughout Egypt, please be wary of when you are walking your dog. Don't use the time to talk on your phone or gossip, constant vigilance on your part is the only way to ensure that your dog won't put it's nose somewhere it is not meant to. If you find bags of poison, please remove them. I will post a blog later detailing what you can do to not only GET RID of the poisoned meat, but what you should do in case of accidental ingestion by your furry friend. 

What can Britons learn from the Egyptian Revolution?

Budget cuts in Britain are a hot topic of discussion in light of the past few years of economic distress in many Western nations. Countries are doing everything they can to cut back on government spending and programs in an attempt to revive a fledging global economy. New powerhouses are coming onto the scene, with countries such as China flexing their economic weight in the world, and seizing this opportunity to spread their arms of investment far and wide.

I was listening to the BBC Radio 2 a while back, and their main focus of discussion were the proposed cut back to the country’s police force. It is estimated that over 25,000 officers will be pulled off the streets in the next four years.  Source. 

Of course this has tongues wagging for many people in the United Kingdom. What will this mean for their personal safety? What will this mean for the security of the country as a whole?

To compensate for the expected police drawdown, citizens in the U.K. are beefing up their own security. One of the radio listeners phoned in to explain his extensive CCTV system that he has had installed. He claimed that it was in part responsible for discouraging local youth in his neighbourhood from vandalizing on his property, and overall kept him feeling safer. The only setback? The cost of implementing this connected network of CCTV can total in the thousands of pounds for reliable protection. Source.

CCTV cameras are already up and running in London, so to see just how effective the installation of CCTVs would be in your home, let’s take a look at the crime statistics in London for the past few years. Ideally, you’d notice a decrease in the level of crime occurring if the CCTV network was deterring criminals from carrying out their crimes. According to some studies, CCTV has effectively helped to reduce crimes of burglary and theft by upwards of 50 %, but has done little to the rate of violent crimes. Source.

So here’s my question, is it really necessary to spend thousands of your hard earned money to install cameras and other security systems around your house? My immediate answer would be yes, but having seen something else with my own eyes, I will argue that “no, it is not.”

During the Egyptian revolution, police presence was entirely withdrawn from the streets. Criminals took this opportunity to run rampant throughout the city, looting stores and breaking into apartment buildings.

Army tank on the main road running along Maadi's outskirts

I was in Maadi, a suburb in Cairo. Maadi is an intricate layout of closed and small streets that from a bird’s eye view appear to follow the design of the English flag (Not coincidentally might I add). Maadi is unique in that there are only three main entrances into the suburb from Cairo itself. Army personnel set up check points and road blocks at these main entrances. But once inside, there was limited Army presence outside of the police stations in Maadi. Essentially, it should have become a lawless jungle.

What happened instead was an inspiring look at the power of neighbours banding together to protect their neighbourhood. Men and sons from individual buildings, apartments, and villas in Maadi went down to the street, forming impromptu "neighbourhood watch groups" to protect their assets. 

Rumours surfaced that criminals were driving around in pick-up trucks, firing randomly throughout neighbourhoods in Maadi (and throughout the rest of Cairo). The neighbourhood watch groups responded by setting up road blocks throughout the densely intertwined streets in the suburb. As the Army was not as obvious a presence as in many other areas of Cairo, Maadi became a city unto itself. 

Because it is a fairly small suburb, most people recognise each other in Maadi. This made it easier for the road blocks, recognising a familiar face, and you would be allowed through. The road blocks themselves were inspired; some grabbed police "huts" to block the road, I even saw a bathtub roadblock. 

Yes. That is actually a bath.

Over-turned police hut becomes an impromptu road block

Alongside the roadblocks, local residents took to wearing Seoudi market bags tied around their arms as indicators that they were from Maadi. An ingenious method of distinguishing "Maadi-ites;" Seoudi market is a notorious supermarket in Maadi, and their white and green bags very easily recognisable. 

Seoudi bag in the front of the car to distinguish
us as Maadi residents

When Karim and I were driving through Maadi, we would have to place this Seoudi bag by the windshield, so that going through checkpoints we'd be immediately spotted as locals. When Karim was out patrolling, he also wore these bags tied around his arm. Alongside their impromptu weapons (sticks, kitchen knives, and anything else that could become a potential weapon), men in Maadi headed out to stand guard under their homes, and man the road-blocks that were found on virtually every street corner. It was an incredible, and very amusing, spectacle to behold. 

So what is the point behind this? What can Britons learn from the Egyptian experience? 

Simply, get to know your neighbours, get to know your neighbourhood. Your neighbourhood is only as safe as you allow it to be. Even without any police presence whatsoever, it is possible to look out for one another. All it requires is going back to the fundamental belief that inside, we are all the same, and we all want to see our homes, families, and possessions stay safe. 

Make Cairo Clean!

This is a Re-post for my friend LeAnne. I encourage people to actively get involved in this, as this issue is also one that I consider of utmost importance to further development in Egypt.

Letters from Egypt: Small Changes

I’ve been told that you don’t move to a country anticipating to change it; however, you should find one small thing that you can work on to give back to the place that houses you. After all, we are only guests and we should give back to the country that allows us to accrue experience whether it’s for your job or just life in general.

I thought my small thing was teaching the children around my office how to be nice to the stray dogs and now, they even take care of one of the puppies. This is a huge deal here as animal rights are just not on the priority list for Egyptians. Yet in addition to the poor treatment of animals, there’s another problem that faces this country: little to no environmental awareness.

First things first, I am NOT a greenie ranting through the streets about climate change or anything like the such. However, the past week or so, I’ve grown increasingly frustrated at the amount of trash I’m walking through on a regular basis, and it seems like its getting worse. I was so angry the other morning after walking through a heap of trash and finding bags thrown over a balcony near my apartment that I cleaned it up myself. This morning, I saw the same thing in the same place again. This is where I walk my dog and you know what, I’m sick of having to walk through this.

I’ve done blogs on the Zabaleen before, the largely Christian community that hand recycles and collects the trash throughout Cairo. Cleaning trash from the streets carries a social stigma, but I’m determined to help even if I’m only an army of one. I don’t understand is that age old saying, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” which also translates into something similar in Arabic, “Elnazafa men aleman” (cleaning for faith).

There are hardly any trash bins throughout the city and the ones that you do find are overflowing.

So I utilized Cairo Scholars this morning to get feedback as to organizing a cleaning crew. Someone sent this article as a parallel (Young Pakistanis Take One Problem into Their Own Hands), and while the article is discussing Pakistan, there are so many similarities.

• ·         “A group of young Pakistani friends, sick of hearing their families complain about the government, decided to spite them by taking matters into their own hands: every Sunday they would grab shovels, go out into their city, and pick up garbage.” Everyone here complains about the government, but no one does anything.

• ·         “The youth of Pakistan wants to change things,” said Shahram Azhar. As well as the youth in Egypt.

• ·         “The major problem people have here is that there are no bins,” said Murtaza Khwaja, a 21-year-old medical student. Same same

• ·         “People say, ‘This is nice, but things will never change,’ ” Mr. Khwaja said.

• ·         “The men in the mosque, on the other hand, were picky, wanting the young people to clean the mosque but not the surrounding area.”

• ·         “They said, ‘We already have Christians doing that for us in the morning,’ ” Mr. Khwaja said. Christians are a minority in Pakistan, and those who have no education often work in the lowest-paid jobs, like collecting trash, sweeping streets or fixing sewers.

I am a firm believer in grass roots initiatives, so not only do I want to help clean, but I also want to create awareness. I am not naïve to think this will help anything for awhile, but I am hopeful (which could be considered an idealist) that if organized properly, we could help make Egypt better for everyone.

Volunteer to Help Make Cairo Clean

I just sent out an inquiry on Cairo Scholars and have had many people comment/want to help with a clean up. The first matter is organizing a group of volunteers, so if you’re interested, please email me at leannegraves@hotmail.com and I will add you to a list that I’m creating to send out notifications.

While this is all in the preliminary stages, I have proposed that we start off once a month to get support. I can make signs in English and Arabic that would explain what we’re doing in order to follow the concept ‘teach by doing.’ This will create awareness. The streets will be small because longer streets may cause people to feel frustrated or as though their efforts aren’t producing any results.

Participants will wear a green shirt to easily identify volunteers.

The trash collected will be taken to Garbage City for the Zabaleen to sort/recycle.

As I said, this is only preliminary thoughts so if you would like to participate or have other suggestions, comments and/or thoughts, please let me know.

So yalla Egypt, let’s get to cleaning!

Warning to Maadi Dog Owners

I know there are a fair number of people reading this blog who have dogs, and even more who know dog owners and / or love dogs themselves :)

Anyone who has been through Maadi is familiar with the long loping streets, bountiful trees, between which you will usually find one or two dogs slumbering away.  As a dog lover myself, I would quite frequently show these strays some positive affection, although after having had it drilled in me for years by my step-father, wouldn't feed them. I find the problem with stray dogs in Cairo, and Egypt in general, so very sad. Dogs dumped into the streets because owners cannot handle them, irresponsible people who refuse to get their pet neutered because of misguided information and as a result only further contribute to the problem. These street dogs are victims of human ignorance, and indeed, human arrogance.

When I'm out with Orien, I can't stand street dogs. I won't lie, I have thought on a number of occasion how nice it would be to be able to walk my dog through the streets, without fear of being attacked by the strays. I can't hate them for it though; when I'm out and about without Orien, they are as sweet and friendly as you can imagine. Who can blame a dog for being a dog!

When I heard today about the Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals, about whom I have previously blogged, announcement that the streets in Maadi have been filled with poison, I had to share it. I have seen friends lose their own dogs to this poison thrown into the streets, it is not something to be taken lightly. How many dog owners could honestly say that their dog does not occasionally stop and pick stuff up off of the streets?

When dogs are poisoned, it is not a humane death. More disturbing about this news of poison being thrown down, is that is has been sanctioned by a vet!!! The person meant to protect the health of your animals, is actively seeking to kill dogs (and cats) in a grotesque manner! Granted that the street dogs in Maadi are a problem, why try and resolve the situation with something that is A) Inhumane - which might I add would mean that under Islamic standards is Haram, animals are never meant to suffer before they die; and B) Puts family dogs at risk! Taking into consideration that a great deal of this poison has been placed in Maadi Digla, an area populated by expat families and their dogs, it is prudent that you take extreme care with your dogs.

For the time being, exercise caution. ESMA has even recommended that you go as far as muzzle your dog when out walking, just to be on the safe side!!