Animal Welfare, Q8

Anyone living in or visiting Kuwait cannot help but notice the large number of cats roaming the streets. I was surprised at first because back in India, both cats and dogs are found roaming the streets but the number of stray dogs are much more. Here, we hardly find any dogs. But read somewhere that there are desert dogs on the outskirts. I have not yet seen a single dog. Many of the cats that are seen roaming are former house pets which are abandoned either because the owners were leaving the country and could not take them along, or because the owners no longer wanted to keep them.

In order to deal with the problem of stray animals,concerned citizens and expatriates have worked together to establish not one, but two animal shelters. Protecting Animal Welfare Society(PAWS), managed by Margaret McLuskey, is located in Wafra and was started by a group of expatriates who were concerned about the state of animal welfare in Kuwait. Animal Friends League(AFL), established and run by Aisha Al-Homaidi, is located in the centre of Wafra on a large plot of land that was donated to the cause. Both shelters are privately run and do not receive funding from the State, but rather rely on fundraising activities and donations from individuals.

PAWS was formed in 2003 and has rescued and re-homed over 1000 animals since then.Described as a mini-UN, it has board members from Kuwait,Germany,Netherlands,UK,South Africa,USA,Syria, Egypt and Canada.It has almost 350 members, who provide support through donations,time and useful items.

AFL was initially a group of volunteers temporarily housing animals in their own homes. It expanded to include a large facility with five full time paid staff members and countless volunteers. The shelter not only rescues and re-homes animals in Kuwait,but also relocates dogs and cats to various countries in the world.All adopted animals are vaccinated and neutered before leaving the shelter.Donation to the shelter is not enough to cover costs,AFL also relies on fundraising activities,including holding paintball tournaments and quiz nights.

With both animal shelters working ceaselessly to improve the lives of all stray animals in Kuwait through providing care to them and educating the general public, the quality of life for many stray animals is bound to improve.Each individual can help the cause either by donating time or supplies, or just simply being a friend to an animal.