Cats of Cairo

I have no fun facts today. Stray animals are too depressing.

I received a request for a post about the cats of Cairo. At first I was excited to have an excuse to share some of the numerous photos I've taken of cats, but the cats of cairo are really quite sad. Many are adorable, and I've seen lots of the cutest kittens ever, but it's still sad. All of these photos are of stray cats that I've seen on my walks, indoors, in trees, etc. 

So Cats. Cairo has them. Lots and lots of them. Cairo has dogs too, but the cats are more visible.

It's really depressing. I've read a bit about abandoned animals during the revolution. It makes sense of course that Egyptians were fighting for their country and animals weren't a priority, but it's also incredibly sad. The massive numbers of street animals across Cairo are generally ignored and forgotten, or worse. Occasionally I see kids chasing or throwing stones at dogs or cats. Most of the AUCians I know are afraid of dogs and cats, or just completely despise them. Cats get hissed at or kicked and people try to scare them away. But no one's taking care of them, and there are few steps taken to reduce the numbers of stray animals. They continue to reproduce so there are probably millions of stray cats eating garbage in Cairo.

 I don't know a ton about animal welfare in Cairo, but a friend of mine did a bit of research into shelters and animal protection laws. She said that there are in fact animal welfare laws, but the police in Cairo are so useless and the government has many higher priority issues, so animals are just forgotten. There's not nearly enough shelter space for all the stray animals, so they tend to live where they can feed themselves, which is usually in less affluent areas. There's less trash in wealthier areas, so the animals are less able to feed themselves. But even in the affluent neighborhood where I live there are numerous stray cats. They're on the AUC campus, in the courtyard of the dorm in Zamalek, on the streets and bridges and cemeteries. They're everywhere. They're even get inside buildings through open windows and doors. 

 Of course, animal welfare concerns aren't limited to just strays. Egypt has tons of working animals like camels, donkeys, mules, and horses. Many of these animals are poorly taken care of or left to starve. The significant decrease in tourism after the revolution has really harmed working animals in the tourism industry (like camels) because their owners can no longer afford to feed themselves, much less care for an animal. If you want to read more about the plight of Egyptian animals and the main group helping them here's a link to the Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals.