Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Please Help The Animals Of Egypt! Guest Blog By Gwen Cooper

By now, we’re all aware of the current unrest in Egypt. What many don’t realize, however, is the catastrophic toll that unrest is taking on Egypt’s animal population.
 

Egypt hasn’t traditionally had much in the way of infrastructure when it comes to animal welfare, so there was already a large population of cats and dogs living on the streets. Those cats and dogs are now getting caught up in the tear gas being used against protestors. ESMA (the Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals) has retrieved dozens of cats and dogs who were on the brink of death, unable to breathe because of the tear gas and with eyes so swollen they couldn’t see. And even the physical injuries often pale in comparison to the sheer terror these defenseless creatures are being subjected to.



Foreign citizens living in Egypt have been returning to their own countries, forced to abandon their cats and dogs. Pet stores—most stores, in fact—have been closed for days, with nobody checking on the animals trapped inside who are slowly starving to death. The same goes for zoos. The banks are closed, which means ESMA has no access to funds with which to purchase food and medical supplies. Some rescue groups are being forced to feed their rescues a diet of bread soaked in water. Homes are being raided and burned down with defenseless pets inside. The volunteers at ESMA are taking turns guarding their shelter 24 hours a day, as raids and fires are happening in their neighborhood as well.

An influx of dollars is the best immediate thing we can do to help ESMA and the animals they serve. Dollars will actually be more useful than Egyptian pounds right now when it comes to buying food, medicine, and other supplies. Dollars can also be used to hire trained teams to rescue animals from abandoned pet stores, zoos, and homes. Even a small amount of money—say $20—can go a very long way in a situation like this.



Here’s a link to ESMA’s donation page. Please, please give what you can—as I said, even an amount of money so small that you think it couldn’t do any good can save lives now, especially if all of us chip in.

http://esmaegypt.org/blog/how-to-help/

Donations are made through PayPal.

The other thing you can do to help the animals of Egypt is to continue to spread the word about their needs. Link to this post, or ESMA’s donation page, on your own blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etc. Tell your friends, families, co-workers, veterinarians, rescue groups you may work with, and anybody else you can think of. While the media has finally started to pay attention to this story, any additional awareness we can create will go a long way toward making things better.



I’ve spent the past several days in touch with members of ESMA’s board. They’ve asked me if I truly think readers here will be concerned about the plight of animals all the way in Egypt. I told them that there are many animal lovers here in America, and we all understand that animals aren’t citizens of countries. They’re citizens of our hearts, and our hearts have no borders.

Please do what you can—and God bless!




ABOUT GWEN COOPER-"Author of the 2007 novel "Diary Of A South Beach Party Girl" and the 2009 New York Times Bestselling memoir "Homer's Odyssey." Currently writing my third book, a novel called "Love Saves The Day" for publication in Spring 2012."

42 comments:

  1. Passing along this very important info on fb

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  2. Oh, thank you for this post alerting us to the problem. I hadn't even thought about the pets, which is strange because I always do in the event of natural disasters...
    And the zoos, too, what a huge worry. I will definitely pitch in what I can. Yes, let's all help and show EMSA and the people of Egypt that we care. We will also be setting an example for them as they restructure their society.

    Caren, come over to see the video I just posted of Shiva Lullaby. ^.^

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  3. I just came back from ESMA’s donation page, hope it helps!!!

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  4. P.S. I just donated $30.00 and also "liked" the organization at its Facebook page. Thanks again for the lead.

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  5. How sad! I am going to donate something. I can't afford much, but I'll give what I can.

    Also, Caren, I wanted to ask you if I could cross post this on my blog. If you okay it, I was thinking of featuring it this week on my Cat Thursday post. Of course, I would give you credit for being the original article host. Please email me at truebookaddictATgmailDOTcom if this is okay with you.

    Best,
    Michelle

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  6. Very important subject!
    Thanks for sharing!
    Luna

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  7. @Knotted Fingers, very nice of you! Thank you!

    @Luna you are welcome! Thanks to Gwen Cooper!

    @Michelle I think that is wonderful and thank you! I will email you right now.

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  8. @Lydia I am sure they will be sooo grateful!! Extremely kind! Gwen will be so happy! Thank you! I will be over to see the video! :)

    @Priscilla thanks sooooo much! I am going to let Gwen know. Thank you!

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  9. Animals are always the most innocent victims in human conflicts. I hope that all animal lovers can make an effort and donate as much as they can.

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  10. Thank you so much, Caren, for hosting me today! And many, many thanks to everybody else for your support of ESMA and their heroic efforts!!!

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  11. @Gen "Animals are always the most innocent victims in human conflicts." so true! Even if someone can't donate monetarily (which unfortunately in these hard times many people cannot) if they can just spread the word, share the link, tweet, etc it will help to get the word out, every bit of help, no matter in what form still helps!

    @Gwen you are most welcome! Thank you for contacting me offering to guest blog about this most important topic. Your post is wonderful and we thank you for taking the time to write this important post.

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  12. will do what I can and will pass it along. Thank you for posting.

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  13. I can't imagine the terror the pets felt as the saga unfolded in Egypt. The children & animals are the real victims of any & all crisis. The damage inflicted upon them stays with them.

    I find it especially sad Caron when I consider that the Egyptians of old worshiped cats.
    x

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  14. will also include this in a post called "Magic in the Barn" that addresses barn cats.

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  15. @Green Monkey, passing it along and including it in a post are fantastic! Thank you!! Getting the word out is super important and greatly appreciated!!!

    @Wockley your words are so true. Yes a number of people have mentioned that is it particularly sad due to the Egyptians worshipping cats. There are also doggies involved in this too. As you said it is the children and animals who suffer the most!

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  16. Aunty Caren,
    We're passing this info to our friends in Australia and Malaysia. There are many animal lovers here too. Thanks for the lead. (((((HUGS))))) purrr....meow!

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  17. Thanks for the link and the info! It's great that organizations such as this exist to keep these poor animals - often overlooked in times of human crises and natural disasters - in our minds and in the media. Take care
    x

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  18. This is a great post- I as well never thought about the animals there. Hopefully the donation will help!

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  19. @Macho and Nicole...you guys are angels!! Thank you!!

    @Old Kitty you are most welcome! Thanks so much for your caring. xoxo

    @Cat-In-Sydney now THAT's what I'm talkin' about! "Share and share alike!!" You guys are all beyond PAWSOME!!

    Thanks to all of you for your amazing support!
    xoxoxoxo

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  20. Thanks for bringing this to everyones attention along with the fabulous link!

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  21. We donated some green papers. And Mom is going to post it to our blog too. We hope it all helps.

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  22. Poor precious babies. I HATE these sorts of things that affect innocents.
    xox

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  23. Great post, thank you Caren and Gwen. I am going to spread the word.

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  24. @Brian you are welcome! Thanks to Gwen! Thanks to YOU for your support!

    @Benny & Lily amen

    @The Whiskeratti that is sooo sweet of you! I am sure it will help and thanks to YOU for posting it as well!!

    @Admiral Hestorb I hate it too :(

    @Peggy you are sooo welcome and thank you GWEN! Thanks for your support Peggy, thank you for spreading the word!

    Thanks again to everyone!!!
    xoxoxo

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  25. I just came back from donating!! Feels good!! :)

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  26. Hello!
    Thank You very much this post!
    It is very sad.

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  27. So many are suffering there, such a mess...we sure need to help all we can!

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  28. I'll tell you one thing, Caren. Mom says she wishes she had a million dollars and a house that was 3 blocks long and 3 stories high so that she could take in every little furrie that needed lovin' care. When she sees things like this or even the kitties on the sphere that need a home so desperately, she cries. The world is not fair but she is very glad that you brought this to the attention of so many.
    xoxoxo

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  29. Aunty Caren,
    We're putting it up in our next post, OK? We've linked it to this entry. Bastet would be proud of all of us, I hope. purrr....meow!

    xoxo
    Angelina aka Queen Nefertiti

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  30. @Amin thanks soooo very much that is very kind of you! Thank you!!

    @Cat-in-Sydney awwww THANK YOU! Gwen will be thrilled!!! Ohhhhh yes Bastet would be proud!!!! We are such wonderful kitties!! Thanks so much for your support! xoxoxo

    @Luscious Lucy, you just mentioned one of many, many reasons why I love you. I always say the same thing. I tell my husband I want to win the lottery so I can open some sort of no-kill place (a farm or something) where I can have tons and tons of cats (and woofies too)....also someplace to help children. My main loves have always been animals and children. xoxoxo You are special!

    @CindyLu sooo true! Thanks so much for your support!

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  31. You can still come over and play with me Cody. Casper isn't the jealous type and I really do want to be your friend.

    I really like you a lot and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. That was the problem all the mencats that were interested in me were so wonderful it was hard to pick just one.

    We used to have some cat friends that lived in Egypt. When their Mom went back to Germany she was able to take them with her but they stopped blogging not long after that so we don't know how they are. We will purr for all the cats in Egypt. It was very nice of you to make us aware of their plight. ~Artemisia

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  32. Our Meowm made a donation a few days ago. We hope they can access their funds soon!

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  33. @Artemisia...I am very happy for you and Casper, I was just sad because you were the first girl cat in the blogosphere that I took to dinner and hunted mousies with. I will come over and play sometime. I like you a lot too and always will. Wow you had cat friends that lived in Egypt? We hope that they didn't move back with their Mom and that they are ok. Yes Gwen did a great job with the post, thanks so very much Artemisia.

    @Junior and Orion... yay for your Meowm!! That is WONDERFUL! My mom made one today too!! Thanks so much for your support!

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  34. The poor little darlings. I cannot bear to think about any animal suffering.

    I love your blog and have awarded it a Stylish Blogger Award.
    Check out my blog at http://silverpawjewellery.blogspot.com for more info x

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  35. @Anna nor can I! Thanks soooo much for the award!!! I was lucky enough to receive it a few times and just did a post about it a few weeks ago...THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!xoxo

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  36. You were the first mancat I went out to dinner with and will always have a special place in my heart. ~Artemisia

    We are pretty sure our cat friends are still in Germany (with their Mom), but we hope their Daddy is OK. He had to stay in Egypt when they left. HE couldn't get permission to immigrate to Germany with their Mom. We thinks the name of their blog was Cats in Egypt. They took us on tours all over Egypt. It was really cool.

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  37. @Artemisia, you will always have a special place in my heart too! xoxo Cody

    Oh wow, their Daddy may be in Egypt? I hope he is ok. I am happy to hear the kitties are probably with their Mom in Germany. I think I saw "Cats In Egypt" I should look for that again. Thanks for the info! Love, Mom and Cody

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  38. I just posted a link to this post on my International Pet Examiner page. http://www.examiner.com/international-pets-in-national/immediate-help-needed-for-animals-egypt

    Thanks to everyone who has helped.

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  39. @Miss Moo thank you for helping to spread the word!!! xoxo

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  40. I will help a little. Just finished helping the anipals of the Australian floods. Guess I hand't heard about the anipals in Egypt until you posted it. Good idea.

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