SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - A new shelter designed to take in at least 3,000 stray dogs from the streets of Sulamaini’s city center opened in Sulaimani on Monday, with 20 dogs already settled into their new home and the numbers of others set to increase over the coming weeks.
Ako Ali, deputy mayor of Sulaimani, was pleased to show off the new initiative to Rudaw.
"This five dunams [of land] has been divided into four fenced parts,” he explained. “One part is designed for male dogs... another part is for female dogs, and [a third] part is designed for puppies. The last one is designed for Hawshari [Kurdish Mastiffs, otherwise known as the Pshdar] dogs.”
Male and female dogs will be separated from each other to prevent them from reproducing.
“We have created sunshade covers and built concrete walls,” the deputy mayor continued, proudly. “The municipality has dedicated a team to look after them, clean the place and bring [leftovers] from restaurants on a daily basis to serve them."
Municipality teams have also been directed to search for strays across Sulaimani neighborhoods to take them to the shelter. Locals can also join the municipality by bringing any stray dogs they encounter to their new home.
The introduction of the shelter is a welcome move in the Kurdistan Region, where stray dogs frequently starve to death, and it provides people with the opportunity to care for dogs they come across without committing to taking them home.
According to Ali, however, only stray dogs from Sulaimani can be housed by the shelter.
“Each district and sub-district can make shelters of their own,” he said on Monday, although if a person can show that the dog was taken from Sulaimani then the shelter will house them. “We can pay them 2,000-3,000 [IQD] for each dog they bring,” he continued. With a hint of a smile on his face, the mayor added that this payment will not be included for puppies.
A few years ago, a policeman in Erbil proudly admitted to killing around 3,000 stray dogs, 40 of whom he shot in one night.
In November 2020, a dog in Erbil was found brutally murdered, with two of her puppies beheaded and another two dying of hunger, with the four surviving puppies forced to eat their mother's flesh.
For the dogs cared for in the Sulaimani shelter, veterinary teams have been tasked with checking up on the health of the strays on a daily basis.
Ari Salahaddin, in charge of Sulaimani Veterinary Directorate, told Rudaw that their teams visit this shelter “every day” in order to vaccinate them, “and to treat any animal that may need treatment, or to carry our surgeries for them including neutering the dogs or any other kind of surgery."
Animal rights activists are delighted with the new project, but say that more needs to be done.
They are calling on local authorities to employee guards for the shelter and to provide a budget for food and other essentials
According to Farman Aziz, a member of the animal charity PAKO Organization, the shelter “needs to have its own employees,” including physicians.
“When a dog enters this shelter, it immediately starts fighting with other dogs," he explained. "Experienced people need to be employed to prevent such problems from happening.”
Reporting by Horvan Rafaat
Video editing by Abdulbasit Ibrahem
