Palestinian animal welfare groups are helping street dogs and cats in Gaza who have been injured during the 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
During the conflict, Gaza was hit by hundreds of Israeli air strikes. Humanitarian officials said that the damage to Gaza would take years to rebuild.
As soon as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was reached last Friday, Saeed El-Aer rushed to his animal shelter Sulala Animal Rescue. He said Israeli bombardments had shattered part of the outside of his shelter in Zeitoun, a district of Gaza.
“We came here to the shelter, and there was a problem. I found all the dogs outside the shelter. The dogs were sad, afraid and terrified,” Saeed told Reuters.
“I found dogs wounded with shrapnel. I was surprised to see a donkey dead and another horse wounded, who later died,” he continued.
Saeed has been going through Gaza’s streets looking for abandoned dogs and cats and providing them with medication, food and shelter.
“We are still getting calls about cats and dogs wounded in the war, and we are still trying to reach them to help them,” he said.
Horse Amira died from a broken skull
In the northern Gaza Strip, shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike hit Omar Shahin’s stable, injuring three of his four horses. Shahin could not rescue one of his animals, Amira, a two-year-old horse.
“The Israelis did not give me a chance. I spent ten days treating her, and she died yesterday. We stitched the wound, and I kept treating her, but her injury was too deep, part of her skull was broken,” Shahin said about Amira’s death.
Pets are affected by bombings
Manal Mahjoub went with her injured cat to the veterinarian: “I came here to get a check-up on my cat because of the war. She is tired. She used to get scared (from the bombing), just like humans, she was scared and afraid.”
“We would hug her, and she would still stay scared. She was affected by it. Even the animals get affected from strikes,” Mahjoub told Reuters.
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