Special tours to feed stray cats and dogs
Like 2 Dislike 0 Published on 12 Jun 2019
(7 Jun 2019) LEAD IN:
An Egyptian animal rights group is inviting all animal-lovers to meet Cairo's strays.
The 'Meow Tours' initiative encourages citizens to treat animals with kindness.
STORYLINE:
A hungry tabby cat has emerged to eat some dry niblets.
Without a home, these animals must normally scour the streets for food.
But today, volunteers from animal rights initiative 'Meow Tours' are out on the streets of Cairo to give these furry creatures a little attention.
"The goal of the initiative is to make people aware that dogs and cats in the streets are peaceful and do not transmit diseases," explains Mostafa Abd Elaati, founder of Meow Tours.
"When people see us playing with street dogs this gives them the impression that it is not dangerous."
Hoping to change the attitude towards stray animals, the group moves on to find others.
It is not long until they spot three cats.
At the sight of treats, they come fearlessly running towards Elaati.
Down a side road, there are two puppies with their mother.
The adorable little creatures are happy to play with their new human friends - and of course eat the food they're given.
Dina Fahmi joined the tour after seeing it advertised on Facebook.
"I always used to take food out and feed the dogs and cats in the streets, but making this a large group makes it better."
On the Facebook group, people can donate animal food, dog accessories and even medical supplies.
"I was interested in the idea because the initiative is one of the very few initiatives that are concerned with animal rights," says Mostafa Khafagi, another person taking part today.
The government deals with strays by either shooting or poisoning them.
The group hopes the initiative will eventually cover the whole of Egypt.
There are no official numbers of stray animals living in the country.
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