Expats fleeing Dubai abandon their pets on streets and out of doors rescue centres as they rush to depart the Gulf state
Pet owners in Dubai are abandoning their animals to flee the missiles raining down on the Middle East.
Vets have reported an influx in inquiries about euthanising pets as thousands of Brits trapped in the region scramble to get home.
K9 Friends Dubai, a dog re-homing group, said it has become overwhelmed by the number of dog owners wanting to leave their pets behind and phone calls they have received about abandoned puppies.
Animal groups are trying their best to find shelters – but hundreds of posts about deserted pets have been spotted online.
And some vets have had to euthanise even healthy pets as their owners don’t want to face the relocation costs or paperwork, it has been reported.
‘Shelters are overcrowded right now and are doing the best they can – we are doing our best to stay as flexible as possible because we understand these are trying times,’ Aditi Gouri, owner of The Barking Lot, a pet boarding service in Dubai, told The Telegraph.
One volunteer at an animal rescue centre told the newspaper: ‘I’ve seen around 200 posts now, on WhatsApp groups and Facebook groups – dogs have been found abandoned on the streets, tied to poles and left behind with no owners found.
‘Some vets have even confirmed that owners are coming in to euthanise healthy pets because they don’t want to deal with relocation costs or paperwork.’
Photos of dogs tied to lamp posts have been circulating online
Pictured: A pet owner posts an appeal for people to adopt their two dogs
The volunteer said there are no large-scale shelters that can handle the amount of pets being left behind as expats flee war-torn Dubai, despite it being dubbed the ‘safest city in the world’ by influencers who moved to the region in search of luxurious, tax-free lifestyles.
They added that they are personally receiving around five messages per day from people saying they will leave their pet on the street if no one takes it in.
And photos of dogs tied to lamp posts and left without any food or drink have been circulating on social media.
War Paws, a charity which supports animals in conflict zones, said their is ‘no excuse’ for owners abandoning their pets while they flee to safety.
Chief executive Louise Hastie decried the notion that Dubai, a wealthy city, could see such desperate levels of pet abandonment.
She said the UAE government must do more to ensure pets are looked after through the conflict.
Brits continue to remain stranded across the Middle East, with more than 100,000 having registered their presence in the region with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
However last week Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said an estimated 300,000 Brits are trapped in Gulf countries.
She said many were holidaymakers, airline passengers stopping over in the region or people on business trips.
Ms Cooper said the FCDO is in close contact with the travel industry, airlines and airports about the hundreds of thousands of British nationals caught in the middle of the conflict.
