ABU DHABI // Animal lovers are expressing their concerns over the increasing number of cats that have been killed on the emirate’s roads in recent weeks.
Animal welfare groups and pet lovers fear that many of the dead animals were pets that were abandoned by their owners.
“I have seen lots of cats hit by cars recently, or dumped on streets, which results in them being run over,” said Pip Hoe, an Al Ain resident and owner of two kittens.
“Every night I go around the park in Al Ain and every other night I see dumped-off cats. Whenever I go to Wadi park I can see 30 to 40 cats roaming there.”
The Briton believed that many of the cats were abandoned by owners once they were no longer kittens, and had less appeal for children. Such residents needed to think about why they had bought a kitten, Mr Hoe said.
“I am asking authorities in Al Ain to introduce TNR (trap-neuter-return) schemes to control and nurture cats.”
Dr Margit Gabriele Muller, director at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, which also cares for abandoned pet cats, said she had heard that more kittens had been run over in the past few weeks.
“These were not experienced with traffic and had not yet learnt to cross the roads,” she said.
“Secondly, due to the holidays last week, an increased number of cars were frequenting the streets. This is the most likely reason for those unfortunate incidents.”
Cooler weather was also blamed for the increase because people spent more time outdoors with their pets.
Sri Lankan B M A Gunawaraden, a biomedical engineer at Tawam Hospital, said he had rescued 10 cats from the street, nurturing them and giving them to others who wanted to adopt.
“I have seen many cats killed. Many people buy cats from pet shops and when they are fed up with them, they release them on the streets.
“ I can see dead cats and kittens nowadays every day.”
Last week a small puppy was left on Mr Gunawaraden’s doorstep, he said.
In the Northern Emirates, Tania Barley, administration manager at Ras Al Khaimah Animal Welfare Centre (RAK AWC), said the situation was similar.
“A lot of cats that are being hit by the cars on the roads are stray cats, although some owned pets can also suffer the same fate,” she said.
“We run a TNR scheme here at RAK AWC, which definitely helps to reduce the population of stray cats and reduce the number of unfortunate accidents.”
Ms Barley said pet cats were less street-smart compared with feral cats, which made it very difficult for them to survive if they found themselves on the streets.
Most pet lovers held other animal owners responsible for randomly releasing them.
“My friends and I are always sad to see how many cats and kittens are dead in the street,” said a British teacher, who did not want to be named.
“Many people feel that cats should live outdoors. The fact is that indoor cats live longer and healthier lives.
“Unfortunately, many people leave their cats on the streets. If a cat has kittens, the family don’t want more cats, so they put the kittens out on the street when they are old enough to leave the mother.”
Animal Welfare Al Ain said it was residents who were responsible for the increasing number of stray cats.
“Some people buy animals as if they are toys or accessories, without considering the responsibilities involved in pet ownership,” a centre spokesman said.
“When they find they don’t like the cat or dog shedding hair, they don’t try to find a solution, but instead reject the animal.”
anwar@thenational.ae
