Lebanese abandon their pets because of poverty

Ibrahim Al-Dika took care of his dog, Lexi, who is a "Belgian Shepherd", since she was a small puppy, but the economic crisis in Lebanon left him unemployed and he was forced to sell her to pay off a bank loan. "It got to the point where I could no longer buy her food, and the bank was putting pressure on me, so I was in front of a dead end," says the 26-year-old, grieving beside the empty slave-girl who used to shelter Lexi under his house in Beirut. "I did not sell a car or a phone, I sold a soul. I sold a part of me."

Animal rights activists note that bearing the costs of caring for pets has become a dilemma faced by an increasing number of Lebanese who keep them in their homes, due to the decline in their purchasing power. They lost their jobs or their income fell to a pittance due to Lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades.

In light of this reality, many families are struggling to survive, and this has prompted an increasing number of pet owners to seek help to secure food for their animals, while some of them ask others to shelter them, sell them, or even abandon them in the worst cases.

Ibrahim Al-Dika lost his job last year, after the clothing store he used to work in decided to close its doors in Lebanon, which limited the young man's ability to support his mother and brother, after his father's death due to illness.

Although Ibrahim stayed for about a year looking after Lexi, training her to sit, stand, play and extend her list for a handshake, he had no choice but to sell it when the bank began calling him to pay off his debt. He drove his car a few days later to check on it where it was now, and the bitch thought that he had come to take her home.

Given that more than half of the population of Lebanon suffers from poverty, many of them have become dependent on the support of NGOs to be able to secure the needs of life, and even to feed their pets.

Amal Ramadan (39 years old) says that she used to donate to the "Birbichweil Animal Watch" charity for animals, but today she receives from the association free bags of food for her dogs Nelly and Fluffy, of the two types "Pitbull" and "Bichon".

Ramadan, a widow and mother of two children, notes that she resorted to overtime work to cover her expenses. "I do not have enough income to feed my two pet animals," she said. And she maintains that she prefers starving to giving up Nelly and Fluffy.

However, the luck of some other animals was not the same, with the high prices of meat, imported dog food, and medical care allowances, according to activists.

, Many people confirmed that the price of imported food for pets increased five times compared to the pre-crisis period, so that the price of a bag of these foods from a global brand sometimes exceeds the minimum wage in Lebanon, which is 675 thousand Lebanese pounds (450 dollars according to the exchange rate. the official).

In a dog shelter in southern Lebanon, volunteer Ghada Al-Khatib points to a dog lying on her side, breathing with difficulty, who was found in a landfill in the area.

Al-Khatib explains that the abandonment of pets is increasing.

The 32-year-old hairdresser who volunteers at the shelter “Woff En Waggs” says that “no one is able to provide food for his dog because of the high cost of living.”

Soraya Mouawad, who works to rescue dogs in Beirut, recounts that two or three people ask her every week to find A shelter for their animals

Mouawad, who founded "Animals Pride and Freedom", notes that the owners of these animals resort to seeking help from them, telling them that they are migrating, moving to a smaller house, or that they are no longer able to continue caring for their animals for "personal reasons." .

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