Last summer I was contacted by a lady in Dubai who had rescued two kittens off the street and was wondering if we could help find them a home using our social presence… During our messages back and forth I learned a lot about animal welfare in the UAE that was disturbing and made me want to do all I could to help. It’s NOT a stable environment over there and there’s lots of turmoil, for instance… there’s lots of ex-pats that adopt pets, but they’re usually only over there for 1-5 years, then when they move 60% don’t take the pets with them and 90% of the animals end up on the streets or they’re euthanized. There’s also very few animal shelters and it’s now illegal to run animal charities unless they’re supported by a big local figure and you can’t even fundraise because that’s illegal too!
Then there’s just blatant animal abuse, like a recent case in the news about teenagers throwing cats on to the highway and placing bets on which color car would run over the cat… So after hearing all of this and talking to Amanda and hearing how passionate she was to do the right thing and help these cats find a good home, we posted to our social sites.
Amanda tells their story…
Rescue of Ruby and Misty
September 2016… two kittens were spotted under a parked car on a very busy road, these poor kittens were only 4 weeks old and thought that this car was home, as it was right outside a supermarket entrance where people would feed them and go about their own business. This continued for about a week and the girls would lose their shelter shortly as they were permanently under this car and the owner would be returning from his vacation in a day or two.
The temperature outside was around 38 degrees, the ginger and white kitten is Ruby, she was lethargic (maybe due to the heat) and had black crusted gunk under her nose from breathing in car fumes all day. She was half the size of her sister and favored her front legs and appeared to be a little wobbly on her back legs, Misty her sister was the stronger of the two and the most feisty.
I made a quick decision after a week of watching this hopelessness play out that I would go and catch them and bring them to the safety of our outside cat enclosure, then get them the veterinary attention they needed. Both Ruby and Misty are Arabian Maus and are all too common here, they’ve adapted to the harsh conditions and can survive normally on the street pretty well.
However the chances of survival for Ruby and Misty were zero, as they were too small and about to get squished by a car very soon as they were living on the main road. We couldn’t keep them as we already have 11 rescue Arabian Maus and 4 dogs of our own! … Fast Forward about about 4 months and Ruby is now 2.6kg and her sister is 1.9kg, so Ruby who was half the size of her sister has over taken her due to the love and care they have both received. Ruby’s nose took 2 months to get all the soot out of her from the exhaust fumes, she’s become very fit and strong and no longer favors her front legs.
Ruby
Thanks to Cole and Marmalade’s support a home was found for the girls so they can stay together and be indoor cats in Tampa, Florida. They were due to fly out on 20th December 2016 as cargo, I was paying their cargo and full relocation costs from UAE to US. We have since had a few minor hiccups in the proceedings… Both girls had started their travel documents, vaccinations and were getting ready to be spayed when both of them had a gastro problem. They spent a day at the vets under going tests, so were obviously not spayed and we had 2 weeks of medications and gastro food to deal with.
So we canceled the original departure date of 20th Dec and as soon as the girls tummies were better we booked them in to be spayed after Christmas. THEN we discovered that Misty had a massive abscess on one of her last molars, after X-ray they discovered she had an infection that had started from the abscess and gone into the gum and worked its way along the bone to the next 7 teeth… So guess what? … No spay for Misty but a $500 dental and removal of 7 teeth and 2 weeks of meds instead!
After all of this, Misty as recovered from her dental surgery and is now spayed and ready to go! … If all continues to go well, both of them will be flying to Orlando on 13th February so they will be home in time for Valentines Day! I will finalize their travel documents and passports and I also need to buy a bigger crate, as the original one was for the 2 of them to travel together in and they were a bit smaller in December! … Now I have to buy a bigger crate so they can both still travel together (they are very closely bonded) and be comfy for their 16hr flight.
The only issue I face now is a large amount of the money reserved for their relocation has now gone on their medical bills. So to keep the costs down I have decided to use a heavily discounted airline ticket and I will fly them myself as access bagage from UAE to Orlando, it’s 16 hours each way and I will stay in Florida for 24 hours and fly straight back again!
A dear friend in the UK has set up a Fundraiser to try and help with the finances a bit after the heavy vet bills. So please if you can help with even $1 that would be AMAZING of you (link to follow). I would also like to thank Chris who has shown nothing but support for these little girls since the day they were rescued, without his support these girls would not of found a home in Tampa Florida and his advice has been instrumental to getting these 2 girls to their new home 🙂
Their whole relocation will be edited into a small movie (courtesy of Chris) so you can see them arrive with their furever family, wish the girls luck on their new adventure!
Purrlease help by donating here: https://fundrazr.com/31BXa5?ref=sh_76DfY7
THANK YOU!
How can I donate in US $$?
The animal conditions sound horrid in the UAE. Thank you for rescuing these two and helping with their medical conditions. I hope they make it to their furever home soon.
well done in getting the two girls a good home:)