Free course set up to help manage Abu Dhabi's stray cats

More than 4,000 felines on streets offered care by volunteers

Honey, a stray cat that lives on the grounds of Al Bandar community, at Al Raha Beach. Khushnum Bhandari/ The National

Practical skills on how to manage stray cat communities in Abu Dhabi are being offered in a new government-backed online training course.

Vets hope providing volunteers with new skills will help them move away from simply feeding cats to actively improving their welfare, creating a more balanced relationship between people and animals while controlling the number of street cats.

More than 110 people had signed up for the course only days after it was launched.

Nine modules have been developed by Microchipped.ae – a free pet-tracking web service – in partnership with Animal Welfare Abu Dhabi, the government supported non-profit organisation licensed by the Department of Community Development.

Dr Rachel Shaw, a vet and chief executive of Animal Welfare Abu Dhabi, said without proper management cats will continue to breed, fight over territory and struggle with health problems.

“Our community cat care programmes have made a significant impact this year and across Abu Dhabi there are already many dedicated groups,” she said.

“What this new course will do is help bring all that good work together, raising the overall standard and making the effort more consistent and impactful across the emirate.

“When cats are neutered and returned, they live calmer, healthier lives, and communities see fewer disturbances like noisy fights or roaming groups of kittens. Ultimately, this training empowers the community to be part of the solution.”

Dr Rachel Shaw is the chief executive of Abu Dhabi Animal Welfare. Photo: Rachel Shaw

Expert endorsements

It is hoped lessons will gives residents the practical tools and confidence to learn humane trapping techniques and understand the trap-neuter-return (TNR) process, which is the federally mandated approach for treating cats in the UAE.

Participants learn about health and safety, and how to use emotional intelligence when approaching animals and community members.

The course also covers how to recognise signs of disease, the correct isolation protocols to follow, and the proper cleaning and sterilisation of equipment – all essential for protecting cats and people.

Three veterinary clinics are supporting the course, with guidelines, animal welfare tips and professional endorsements: the British Veterinary Centre, Mike’s Veterinary Clinic in Dubai and Pet Pavilion in Mussaffah.

Online learning takes around three hours to complete and is supported by how-to videos for guidance.

Dr Shaw said if the course is a success, it could be expanded to cater for other species.

“We are considering a course for terrestrial and marine wildlife, to help people understand how to safely approach injured animals, provide immediate first aid and then connect with the excellent care systems already in place for these species in Abu Dhabi,” she said.

“A course for dogs is also something we envisage but it requires a different approach. Unlike cats, the federal mandate for dogs is not TNR.

“Instead, they need to be trapped, given behavioural assessments and then moved into the Abu Dhabi Animal Shelter for rehoming.

“The challenge – here and worldwide – is that any shelter has limited space while the demand is unlimited. That means we need strong collaboration to make the system more effective and impactful before expanding training on a larger scale.”

Community cats are part of everyday life in Abu Dhabi, regularly seen in neighbourhoods, near shops and outside homes. While volunteer-run feeding stations are widespread, they do not solve the wider issues cats face.

Abu Dhabi residents are learning humane trapping techniques, including the trap-neuter-return (TNR) process. Photo: Microchipped.ae

Volunteers taking the lead

Dave Appleby established Microchipped.ae in 2022 after he lost his pet cats when they were mistakenly rounded up by pest controllers.

The pet registration service is offered free of charge and aims to reunite people with lost pets.

Mr Appleby, who lives in Abu Dhabi, has since taken in more than 160 stray cats and has retrained as an animal control officer to understand more about managing populations of street cats.

“The idea of the course is not only to empower the rescue community, but to set a standard so we can work together and keep sharing knowledge on how to improve animal welfare across the UAE,” said Mr Appleby. “Even the most experienced rescuer will gain something from enrolling.”

Since April 2022, more than 4,000 cats have been supported with community care in Abu Dhabi, either through TNR, regular feeding or veterinary care.

“There have been quite some significant changes and we see a lot more animals being returned to their colonies after pest control companies have been into an area and removed them,” said Mr Appleby.

“We want communities to learn how to stabilise through TNR and how we sustain through feeding. The terminology 'feed to breed' is probably correct. People shouldn’t just go out and feed the cats, they should be actively trying to stabilise colony numbers.”

To sign up for the course visit catraining.ae.