Rescuing Cats and Dogs

Radio Hayah spoke with Diane Babish

Arabic

Radio Hayah spoke with Diane Babish from the Animal and Environment association here in Bethlehem now Diane what is the Animal and environment association?

It is a shelter, it is an organisation NGO, it is a non profit organisation especially for the animals, we rescue the stray animals, dogs and cats basically and it is a rescue place where we help the animals, re home, sterilise, try to do the best we can to save these souls.

When were you started and why were you started?

We established first of all it was officially registered 3^rd of December 2013.

And why were you started?

I thought of this, that the time has come that we have to do something for the sake of the animals, when I used to see that most of the municipalities, All of them they used the way of poisoning and shooting to control the increasing number of strays animals, especially dogs, not cats, dogs because they consider dogs are cause of diseases, dangerous for humans, so people they do not like dogs roaming on the streets so this is why we established and I refused their idea of killing the animals.

So this is common practice here in the Bethlehem area to actually poison or shoot the animals?

It is everywhere its in all Palestine, all West Bank.

And these are wild dogs that are on the street are they?

They consider them wild, but they are not, they are, most of them they are friendly, they do not attack unless someone hurts them, its normal when you attack an animal the animal will defend himself and some of the people because they have the phobia of seeing animals especially if it is a huge dog on the street they run away. So the animals it is in their nature when they see something running they run after it so the people think that the animal is following them because we do not have the culture, people do not educate their children, their community how to deal with the strays when they see them on the streets, this is the problem that we face.

Are you the first of its kind here in the West Bank?

Yeah I was the first person to think of this idea, to open the shelter and it was the first shelter in Palestine.

How many animals do you look after at the moment?

At the moment we have, they average about 55 animals but in this small shelter which is no more than 100 metres we were able to rescue 100's of dogs

we try not to keep dogs so long we try first of all to afford al;l the shots, the vaccinations treatment, sterilisation, we do immediate sterilisation for the dogs, males and females and try to find them homes and then try to rescue more animals.

Are you able to find them homes and is the Arab culture something that accepts dogs and cats?

It is so difficult to find homes for the dogs and most of the people here in Palestine they look for pure breed dogs, Not stray dogs, you can find rarely some people they help the animals, what I find now there are a lot of people, more now are helping the stray animals, some of them they can't keep them because the culture of the parents, they do not accept bit the children and youth they are now more attached to saving the animals, saving the souls for dogs and cats. But basicly the people they think of pure breed dogs more than strays to have them as pets because they think of breeding from these animals, That is why when we save the animals no matter what kind they are, pure bred or stray dogs canine dogs we fix them, also the pure bred we fix them because we don't want to give any chance for people to breed from them.

It must be expensive running a shelter?

Yes it is very expensive we have been depending on donations but still we need a lot of money, we have debts for some of the clinics that we work with in Palestine and in the green line a lot of cases they need very sophisticated doctors and equipments that we do not have in Palestine but a lot of cases we sent to vets here locally or in other parts of Palestine but it depends on the case, we try to get donations for the basic things for building but you know mostly it costs money but its a small shelter, it doesn't have all the facilities, we only have 1 office and then we only have kennels, we need a lot of space we need money, we need more chances to save more dogs to have more room for them, we don't have a garden for them to run, it is a small area, specific area, we don't have a clinic we don't have rooms for the volunteers, we don't have isolation rooms, we don't have storage rooms, a lot of things that we need.

Do many of these animals need the vet when they have been brought in for the first time?

Yes of course, most of them they need because some of them they suffer from skin problems, it is very common here because the dogs they live on streets, they eat from the dirt, they have worms and in addition to that some of them they have been hit by cars, accidents, broken legs, arms, shot, also puppies they suffer a lot because they do not have vaccines of course, no one here from the authorities they offer vaccination or treatment for stray dogs, so we were the only shelter started with this idea and we have now another shelter recently built small but the municipality has helped, it is in Gaza and we also have a sanctuary, daily helps in Nablus where the person he has American citizenship but he has workers there, he also rescues dogs and donkeys.

Do many people abandon their pets?

Yes a lot, there are a lot of people also during the Corona virus, they thought that they are transmitting the disease which is not right, they animals they do not transmit, it is the humans who transmit the disease but some of the people they abandoned their animals, we found a lot of animals, most of them they are not pure bred the abandoned, but the pure bred they keep them to breed, this is something not acceptable.

How long have some of these animals been in your shelter?

We had animals they have been here from the beginning of the opening of the shelter but most we found homes, but we have a few that we have had for 2-3 years .

Is there need for more education in the community about animals and animal welfare?

Of course it is needed every time, every generation they need to be educated about the importance of animal welfare about the Canine dogs, they are the original kind of dogs, also the way of how to deal with your animals or with the stray dogs and I do a lot of workshops for schools so education is very important, to teach the children to accept the animals living on this planet because here the communities don't accept dogs around their houses so that is why some private people they put poison and they complain to the municipalities where they send the police to shoot them and to put poison, its a very massive problem here because we are dealing, we dealt with a lot of cases that we have to find homes for puppies, the mother is dead, I had a lot of cases, a lot which cost us a lot of money also to find homes, find fosters and to buy milk and bottles for each dog, it happens many, many times.

So this is because the mother has died

yes of course and shot sometimes and there are a lot of people the Palestinians they interact with these criminal actions because they do not accept also killing the strays because they are strays, and also some of them they care for them, they give them food in front of their house and they find it so difficult the death of the animal that was very friendly, doesn't deserve to be dead, to be killed.

Is the Palestinian society a cruel society when it comes to animals we have seen videos on Facebook of cruelty?

You know, yes we find a lot of cruelty from the Palestinian community here, we have now increasing numbers of people that they are with helping the animals but still we have cruelty everywhere in Palestine which is very difficult to change because we do not have laws, laws to protect the animals, we don't have laws to punish the persons who violate the rules.

What is it like for you when you see an animal go to a new home?

As you know it is like a victory an achievement when you see them happy, finding a home is something where you make your measurement, the difference from how he was, the terrible condition of how he was to how he is now, its very relaxing you feel that you have done something positive because you saved the life of this soul and also when you see the animals travelling abroad also it is a credit.

Why do you so what you do?

Why? Because I love animals and I consider them apart of the world, God created them so why, we don't have the reason to kill then, We are not in the place of God to kill them. We have no authority to steal ones life, It is God who created it, God who can take it like humans the same thing, I feel very upset about the conditions of the animals here, how they are living, the abuse, the terrible condition, their health, lack of food, dehydration, skinny bones, neglected, fear, injuries, lots of things, So I try to change this life of the animal and also in this way you can change the culture and the community. When the people see us on Facebook we have a lot of followers now and see the work we are doing it changed positively towards the peoples idea about the animals, that is why we have now an increasing number of people who are cooperating with us, People are informing us about cases in all Palestine and we are helping everywhere, we try our best to find support, treatment for these animals and the people they feel they are part of this mission so when you let them be part of it they can feel that they have done something, they will be very much relaxed and happy, they have saved the life of this animal and are part of it and their name is published also on Facebook, it is a very good intention to help the people be more with you and minimise the number of people who hate the animals.

What is your prayer for the animals here in Palestine?

I wish first of all that we have a common understanding, for the Palestinian people to understand that these animals are part of our life here, they have to appreciate the life that every soul has been created by God, to have many shelters and vets centres everywhere to take care of strays and to have the programs, Spay and Neuter program to be accepted everywhere. So when you reach the concept of acceptance of spay and neuter and release program it will be a great achievement, the killing will be stopped.

This is the main issue also to stop killing the animals.

What is your Facebook page for people who would like to know more?

Yes it is Animal and Environment association we also have a website www.bethlehemshelter.com