AN APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENTS AND ROYAL FAMILIES OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:  PLEASE STOP THE BARBARIC DUMPING OF LIVE ANIMALS BY UAE PEST CONTROL COMPANIES 

Pest Control companies in the United Arab Emirates have been dumping live animals, those designated ‘pests’ such as free roaming cats and dogs, at hostile and arid sites in the country with tragic consequences.  

The governments of the 7 Emirates employ pest control companies to remove animals classified as pests and deal with them accordingly.  These agreements are governed by contracts, which are available to the public.  

As an example, the Abu Dhabi government has pest control procedures:  TADWEER / ADWMC (Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre) PR-LTCSD-PPHPCS-07 Permitting Public Health Pest Control Services in Emirate Procedure dated 11.12.2018 page 16/31, which stipulates that animals should be taken to the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital for neutering and then be returned to the place from where they were taken.

As recently reported by The National (https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/05/08/vets-urge-pest-controllers-to-hand-stray-cats-to-authorities-not-dump-them/ animal welfare groups and volunteers report that these pest control companies have been dumping live cats and dogs on a daily basis, for the last two years, at tick infested reed plantations where there is no food, water or shelter.  In addition, there are often free roaming dogs at these sites, who themselves are fighting for survival.

The result is that many of them, puppies and kittens in particular, are dying of starvation and disease, with temperatures at 30-50C for 5 months of the year.  In an effort to survive, the dogs have become habituated to the daily dumping of cats and kittens as a source of food, and many are mauled to death every day by equally desperate and innocent stray dogs.

Volunteers are finding an estimated 20-30 live puppies and kittens every week.  They continue to feed and water them and to rescue those they can extract from the vegetation as best they can.  Sadly, they often have to leave helpless animals behind, as they are overwhelmed and unable to help any more due to lack of resources. 

The pest control companies who are dumping animals are in breach of their contracts with the relevant authorities, as they are not following the clearly stated operating procedures.

Together with the veterinarian clinics, animal welfare groups, shelters and volunteers have been calling on the governments for decades, to establish humane stray animal management policies.  We are renewing our appeal for an immediate cessation of the cruel practice of dumping live animals and that a humane policy of control is adopted instead.  This would include an official, nationwide Trap Neuter and Return programme.

Specifically, we recommend adopting the guidance of the International Companion Animal Management Coalition (ICAM) regarding humane cat and dog population management (links below*).  Their expert guidance has been adopted by many towns, cities and countries worldwide with successful outcomes.

ICAM members are currently:  RSPCA, International Fund for Animal Welfare;  Four Paws;  World Animal Protection;  Humane Society International;  World Small Animal Veterinary Association and Global Alliance for Rabies Control.  

PLEASE TAKE ONE MINUTE TO HELP THESE SUFFERING ANIMALS BY SIGNING THIS PETITION. 

Decision maker:  His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of the United Arab Emirates - https://twitter.com/MohamedBinZayed

*HUMANE DOG POPULATION MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE  https://www.icam-coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-ICAM-DPM-guidance-Interactive-updated-15-Oct-2019.pdf 

*HUMANE CAT POPULATION MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE  https://www.icam-coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Humane-cat-population-English.pdf