Volunteers appeal for help homing 30 stray puppies

Vet bills pile up as young dogs are rescued across Abu Dhabi

Animal welfare volunteers are appealing for foster homes for 30 puppies recovered from construction sites in Abu Dhabi. Courtesy: Animal Action UAE 

Animal welfare volunteers in Abu Dhabi are facing huge veterinary bills to pay for the treatment of 30 puppies recovered from the capital’s construction sites.

Sarita Harding, a volunteer at Animal Action in Abu Dhabi, said the group currently needed more than Dh125,000 to clear a back-log of payments for all their rescued animals.

Each dog they take in requires a full health check including vaccination, de-worming, micro-chipping and neutering.

Vet practices can charge up to Dh2,000 per dog, with more animals being rescued by the group each week.

“Over the last few days we have rescued a mum and her puppies after reports the mother was being beaten by groups of men working in the area,” said Ms Harding.

“A group of four puppies and their mother was also found on a construction site in Mussafah.”

Unless volunteer groups are registered under the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, they are not allowed to raise money to support their work.

Although Animal Action is registered in Abu Dhabi, it does not have permission to raise funds in Dubai, where many vets offer reduced rates.

Volunteers at the group are currently searching for foster homes for 80 dogs, not including the latest batch of puppies.

“We desperately need foster homes for these puppies,” said Ms Harding.

“We thought we had already cleared these sites with trap, neuter and return programmes, but unfortunately more dogs keep arriving.”

Ms Harding can be contacted via the Animal Action Facebook page or by emailing [e-mail].