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."
