(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Animal rescue groups in Dubai are encouraging residents to open their homes for fostering as the number of abandoned pets is likely to surge again this summer.
For the past several years, during summer, animal shelters and rescuers have reported a significant rise in the number of pets being left behind by their owners, mainly by residents who are either leaving the country or by ones who cannot afford to take their dog or cat on their summer vacation.
K9 Friends, a dog shelter in Dubai, currently has about 40 other dogs on their waiting list. Helen Bragger, kennel manager at the shelter, urged residents to become foster parents as it helps open up space for the dogs on their waiting list.
"Currently, we have about 40 dogs on our waiting list for various reasons, some because of their owners who are leaving the country and don't want to take their dog with them. Some are dogs that have been found as they were abandoned by their owners - these are the kind people who put the dogs in their own home and are waiting for a space at our kennel to open up," she said.
"If someone fosters a dog from us it will be fully vaccinated and neutered. The foster families are very important for us because when they foster our dogs, it allows us to bring in more dogs that are on our waiting list. We are always encouraging people to foster and if you are sticking around in the summer, give us a call. There are some people here who cannot adopt for different reasons, but they are welcome to foster. It's always very helpful to us and we always take the dog back on a fixed date."
Kay Ivanova, founder of 38smiles, a nonprofit animal rescue group, is also encouraging residents to foster and adopt as her organisation is seeing a growing number of abandoned pets as well.
"The 'dumping season' hasn't started just yet. But, yes, we are starting to see cases of 'with heavy heart I cannot take my beloved pet with me', which in the last few years has actually been the case all year around. We do not have a shelter as we do not believe in keeping animal in cages so we work with network of foster homes," Ivanova said.
"I believe that we as rescuers and like-minded pet owners have made it to easy for people to 'rehome' their pets as we always try to assist for the sake of the animal without trying to educate and reinforce people that pets are for life. Bottom line instead of saying yes we should say no and slowly people will learn."
Ensure somebody is there to protect your pets Dr Sarah Elliott at the British Veterinary Hospital, said her hospital sees a large number of abandoned pets that are brought in by people who have found them on the streets and need some kind of treatment.
"What happens is that as the weather heats up, a lot of people leave Dubai for cooler climates and they look at the cost of boarding their pet or taking their pet with them and decide the cost is too expensive. And, unfortunately, we do see the 'throw away your pet and get a new one for the year' attitude. This is a very difficult thing we see," she said.
"We're always trying to change attitudes towards people abandoning their pets. Adopting a pet is a commitment for life. For a cat or a dog, it can be up to 20 years. If it's a parrot, it is more like 50 or 60 years. So anyone who's deciding to get a parrot needs to ensure that they have children or friends that can look after the parrot if they become too old to do so."
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