ANIMAL welfare activists have expressed outrage after nearly 30 dogs were found dead in Askar, some of them allegedly poisoned and others apparently shot or run over by cars.
Volunteers found the dead dogs on Saturday with the bodies exhibiting signs of poisoning such as bloated stomachs and vomit.
Unacceptable
Animal and Environment Protection Charity Organisation president Shaikha Marwa bint Abdulrahman Al Khalifa condemned the reported killings as “cruel and unacceptable”, calling on the government to stop relocating stray dogs to Askar which is already overpopulated with the animals.
“All our efforts to raise awareness and care for these dogs are wasted because of these cruel inhumane actions of people,” she said.
“We spend so much money and effort feeding and treating these animals and then someone just comes and murders them – it’s outrageous!”
“All our hard work towards building a reputation internationally are shattered and ruined through crimes like this; we ask the government not to take anymore dogs to Askar because it’s flooded with dogs and they should build a proper shelter that can accommodate at least a 1,000 animals.
“If these cruel crimes become the norm in society then it means a criminal inhumane mindset is being spread in Bahrain and we can never accept that.
“Our religion is one of mercy and these killings are the exact opposite of that.”
Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, who runs the Bahrain Animal Rescue Centre (BARC) in Saar, said these crimes were a ‘by-product of the bigger problem’.
She said as a result of Askar being overpopulated with stray dogs, people have taken matters into their own hands and started killing the animals out of anger and frustration.
“The bigger picture is the need for tougher legislation that will prevent people from thinking this is even an option,” she told the GDN.
“We need to outsource the mass sterilisation of the strays to organisations that are equipped and big enough to be able to come to Bahrain and do this on a massive scale.
“Currently the CNR (catch-neuter-release) programme is only done through one clinic and one clinic alone can’t compensate the 500 dogs that are being born a month since 2017.
“It’s horrible, upsetting, shocking and terrible to see but the most important thing is that government and officials have to see how outraged people are by these acts in order to feel that the community at large really wants this to change.”
BARC volunteers visit Askar every weekend with medical supplies and food to vaccinate stray dogs as well as feed them while capturing them for spaying and neutering.
She said videos of the poisoned dogs were taken by a security guard on the premises who shared them with activists who took action immediately.
“We will have volunteers patrolling some of the areas where dogs are in packs just to protect them and make sure they’re safeguarded over the next few nights,” she added.
“These dogs are super friendly, very sweet and used to people and a lot of them have been spayed and neutered and they didn’t pose a risk to anybody.
“There were also puppies that were killed.”
Evidence
Meanwhile, Bahrain Strays have called for any one with evidence of the crime to come forward and report what they saw to catch those who killed the dogs while also revealing that the bodies were removed to hide evidence of the crime.
“A large team went to the locations yesterday and we informed labourers and workers in the area to pay attention at night as these killers might come again and kill more dogs,” it said on its official Instagram account, @bahrainstrays.
For more information visit @bahrainanimalrescuecentre or @aepcobh.
reem@gdn.com.bh
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