inkazak

So. I moved to the Middle East about 5 years ago. When I first got here, I will admit I thought it was bizarre that I never saw anyone walking their dogs. I knew very little about the Middle East or its culture. i looked it up online and read that many people in the Middle East disliked dogs. I had a dog back home and arranged to have him sent to me (heres a picture Imgur I know- he's awesome. I rescued him in South Korea) So when he got here, I naturally took him for walks and I was flabbergasted by the response. Peoples first reaction (especially children) was to pick up rocks or sticks or anything from the ground and throw things at him! I was so angry. This happened day and day out. People tried to kick him, teenagers barked (yes actually barked) at him. When I talked to people about dogs, they would just tell in broken English. "not good, not clean, very dangerous" No one ever tried to pet him.

I found two stray dogs that lived in wadi (desert area) near my house. I let them sleep in my yard at night and then they would jump the gate during the day. I fed them, neutered them and kept them safe (so i thought) One day, a dog that I was feeding came back with a bullet wound in his neck. I was outraged. The police laughed at me and the people in my neighborhood said "who cares, its just a dog" Again, I was livid and angry and outraged. But I knew that I could either choose hate or love (my hatred for this behaviour could win and I could just be angry, or my love for animals could win and I could get my ass to work) I got my ass to work. I started a facebook group, I collected money from my coworkers to spay cats and dogs, and then I combined my group with another group. We worked to rehome as many dogs as possible, but because people do not see dogs as pets, we started looking into other options.

We realized that it wasnt so hard (but it was a bit pricey) to send dogs abroad. We started checking for people who were flying and asking around, when we found someone that was flying, we would ask them to let us send dogs as excess luggage. Most people agree because its a good cause. Now our biggest challenge is spreading the word. We are also trying to get the police to stop shooting - unfortunately most of the locals think this is a good thing. You can check my post history and see two examples of that from my post to /r/Oman. This happens all day long. Instead of spay and neuter, the police just shoot them. We have to change the attitudes first though, so I try to stay positive. Try!

It is tough sometimes. I had a very tragic encounter with a kitten that left me traumatized. I heard a kitten meowing and I went around an alley to just make sure it was okay. I found a kitten hanging onto the edge of an open sewer so I backed off. Just as I did, the cat dropped into the sewer - it was about 50 feet deep until it hit the sewage which was 10 feet deep. There was a ladder, so I scrambled down as quickly as I could as the people stared and laughed. As I made my way down, the last 10 feet of the ladder broke off under me and I was dangling with just my arms holding on. I had to make a decision and that was to go back up the ladder. I desperately tried to shove a long plastic pipe down the sewer. I could here it paddling and paddling and trying to stay alive. I kept trying to get the pipe down there but it was dark and i couldnt see anything. I ran to my car to get a flashlight saying to myself "Please hang on, please hang, please hang on" When I came back he was floating on the top of the sewage. I still tried to get him out so I could resuccitate him. I failed. It was miserable. I cried in my car for about a week after that. So yes, there are so many hard times. So many. But I cant just ignore the problem. And yes it can be rewarding especially when we are successful.

Good questions!

The most common type of dog (mixed and otherwise) that we see are called Salukis. I I recall correctly, the originated in Iran. At the time, they were used for hunting.

Yes! Some people keep them as pets! In fact, there is a woman that lives in town and has a dog that she keeps tied up to a 4 foot chain. In 120 degree weather I check on the dogs water almost daily. I found it to be empty one day and then when it was full it was stagnant and smelled like a pond. I knocked on her door (with a female friend) and asked her why she has the dog. She said it was for security because her husband is away alot. We gave her some advice and explained that she cant keep the dog like this. I was honestly tempted to give her a bottle full of the dogs, dirty, green slimy water and ask if she wanted to drink it. But that would have been unproductive.

Thanks for being honest! I always prefer it when people say "I dont have time" instead of adopting and then neglecting. We don't charge anything. So this means I'm always broke. We do ask for the new parents to consider donating, and we can get the dogs there quicker if they do.

What we do is ask our volunteers/members of our facebook group to let us know when they are traveling to America/England/ Germany and then we send the dogs as excess luggage. Its not a terribly complicated process but we are always tense until they land!

In my experience they are alert, cautious and incredibly intelligent dogs. They are also very playful and will OWN YOUR COUCH if you let them! You should adopt one from us!