Egypt struggles to prevent animal cruelty
The torture and killing of animals by residents and security forces are widespread in Egypt, but animal rights associations have insufficient funding to spread awareness about the importance of animals and how to deal with them.
Several episodes of violence against animals, especially street dogs, has pushed the Egyptian media to highlight some of these incidents and shine a light on animal rights organizations. The first publicized incident was in December and involved a female dog named Heart, who was rescued after being tortured and burned by a caustic substance thrown on her. The second incident was the beating and slaughter of Max, known in the media as “Dog al-Ahram.”
A video showing the torture and death of Max spread through social networking sites in February. After presentation of the video and reports by citizens, a Shubra al-Kheima court sentenced the dog’s killers to three years in prison March 11. In an incident this month, someone killed six puppies and their mother with a stick embedded with nails.
