Stray Dogs

This winter, lucky dogs all over Australia and New Zealand will enjoy a warm, comfortable home and the love, care and respect of their owners. But dogs like this one are not so lucky. She’s one of thousands living on the streets of the Middle East where life is tougher than you can ever imagine.

Outside in all weathers, her home is the bare, dirty concrete of the pavement and her food is the paltry scraps she can scavenge – or wrestle from other dogs.

Her body is covered with open sores, she’s badly malnourished and dangerously thin. Other conditions such as parvo, an agonising virus which can cause severe dehydration and even death, are common among these poor stray dogs.

Roaming the streets in fear, these dogs are no one’s friend - living a life of pain and misery. In an attempt to control their population, local authorities resort to inhumane methods of killing the dogs. Random shootings are common and dogs may not be killed outright – but seriously injured. Yelping in pain they crawl off to endure
a slow and painful death at the roadside while others flee in terror.

We urgently need your help to stop stray dogs being slaughtered like vermin.

Working hand in hand with local authorities is vital. Thanks to our supporters, successful animal welfare work with Member Societies throughout the Middle East has gained the respect and trust of the Doha Municipality who have now asked WSPA for help in dealing with their stray dog population. We must take this opportunity to end the agony and distress for these dogs, now, while we can.

Sadly, stray dogs can be found in many communities in the Middle East. And around the world, there’s an estimated 400 million stray dogs which represents an animal welfare crisis on a huge scale. That’s millions of underfed and untreated dogs roaming the streets.

With your support we can provide practical solutions to help stray dogs worldwide by:

• Providing equipment and training to help local authorities capture these dogs in a humane way that does not cause injury or pain to the dogs.

• Working to stop the cycle of uncontrolled breeding by helping train vets to neuter dogs and set up mobile clinics with vital equipment and medical supplies to treat sick and injured dogs on the street.

• Getting beside local governments and authorities to introduce legislation that protects the dogs. Fear and misunderstanding can lead to inhumane methods of trying to deal with the situation. We must try to protect these dogs from this cruel and unnecessary treatment.

• Educating the public about responsible pet ownership so dogs are cared for and treated with the respect they so rightly deserve – not abandoned and left to fend for themselves. We’re also encouraging owners to sterilise their dogs.

Right now the situation for far too many dogs is absolutely desperate. We need your support urgently to help end the pain and misery for stray dogs on the streets and to help other animals trapped in abuse or cruelty. With your help we can show authorities and local communities that by tackling the problems at a number of levels, stray dog populations can be controlled humanely.

Please join WSPA Animal Rescue for $25 a month or make an urgent donation today to help give stray dogs and other animals a better life today.

On behalf of the animals, thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely

Margaret West
Regional Director
WSPA Australia and New Zealand

To support our work online, click here. For phone donations please call WSPA Australia on 1300 13 9772 or WSPA New Zealand on 0800 500 9772.