Egypt’s dog shelter volunteers helping give voice to ‘the voiceless’

CAIRO — “We take care of sick and wounded stray dogs, for they cannot ask for help like humans. We welcome them to their new home and we never return them to the streets after recovery,” said Engy Tarek, co-founder and deputy chief of Cairo Animal Rescue Team, a dog shelter in Giza province near the Egyptian capital Cairo.

With “the Voice of the Voiceless” as its slogan, CART sends its volunteers to reported cases of stray dogs in distress, with many having been paralyzed, shot in the legs, hit by cars, beaten, burnt or strangled by people.

“We started with 30 dogs five years ago, and now the shelter is home to about 800,” Tarek said at the shelter while taking care of a dog wounded by a collar embedded in its neck.

The main shelter is located in Awsim district of Giza on an area of about 4,000 square meters, in addition to a nearby apartment and a villa, all rented by CART to host the animals.

Tarek first met with Abdo Joe, now CART CEO, when they were both animal rescuers and they decided to open a licensed dog shelter together. Sharing the same interests, they have become a couple, too.

Donations cover 20 to 40 percent of the shelter expenses that amount to about $4,000 per month, and the rest is mostly paid from their own pockets.

“Sometimes the donations are insufficient because many Egyptians lack the culture of animal rescue and they’d rather donate to humans,” Tarek said.

CART’s Facebook page has tens of thousands of followers and people can report any case nationwide, post the incident with a picture and give the address so that the shelter volunteers can go to the dog’s rescue.

Sayyid Abdel-Naby, who in his 30s and has been working for CART since it started, said he doesn’t consider himself a worker but an owner of the shelter, which makes him love the place and spare no effort to help the animals.

“I love animals, particularly dogs, for they are so loyal and they never betray their friends,” he said, adding that “while working on some injuries I feel they are in my own body, but when the dog completely recovers I feel I am the happiest person on earth”.