Coinciding with World Rabies Day, Egypt’s Veterinary Medicine Directorate in the Red Sea signed an agreement on Monday with a local animal shelter to spay and neuter stray dogs in the area. The shelter in Hurghada has thus far fixed 1,547 dogs.
The shelter collects dogs from the streets, anesthetizes them, and sends them to a veterinary clinic affiliated with the shelter in preparation for sterilization.
After the surgery, the dogs are placed under observation for 24 hours before returning to the streets. Antibiotic injections are administered to ensure the surgery wounds heal quickly.
Numerous complaints have been filed by residents of Ras Gharib, a town located in the northernmost area of the Red Sea Governorate.
Residents are worried about the proliferation of stray dogs in the city, citing the threat stray dogs pose to their health and safety. They are calling for a similar sterilization campaign like that of Hurghada.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation reported 400,000 cases of dog bites in Egypt in 2017, up from 300,000 in 2014. 231 people died from animal bites in the past four years, mainly due to rabies.
According to a survey by Egypt’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, there are more than 15 million stray dogs in Egypt.
Almost every neighborhood in the country is home to stray animals, who can usually be found rummaging through trash for leftover food or loping along city streets.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
