Saving Gaza’s forgotten animals: The household risking all to rescue cats, canine and donkeys in conflict this Christmas | EUROtoday

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A heroic family-run animal sanctuary has defied the chances by “working around the clock” to save lots of tons of of Gaza’s animals struggling throughout a yr of intense Israeli bombardment.

Sulala Animal Rescue volunteer Sa’ed Al-Err mentioned he has helped take care of tons of of animals, together with canine, cats, horses and donkeys, since Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in October final yr.

Despite having “almost no food” and going through a scarcity of medication because the outbreak of conflict, Mr Al-Err, 26, and different volunteers work by Christmas, in addition to Jewish and Islamic holidays, to rescue the weak animals.

“When the war started, the need to help animals only increased. So our strength increased, because this is our duty,” he instructed The Independent.

“We have lost count of the animals we have tried to help. We receive phone calls around the clock from people every day in the Gaza Strip.

“We see a lot of animals injured under the rubble of war. They have also often been in car accidents or have been hurt by people.

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“But there is almost no animal food left in the Gaza Strip, and the little food that is left with sellers is sold at astronomical prices.

“We are also running out of the medicine we had before the war, and it is a lot more difficult to buy now because it is very expensive.”

Many Palestinians needed to abandon their pets whereas fleeing the battle as hundreds of thousands of individuals had been displaced a number of instances throughout the territory—some animals had been even left on the Egyptian border as individuals had been evacuated.

The sanctuary was pressured to go away tons of of canine in a shelter with the doorways open and a few meals earlier than evacuating south earlier this yr, Annelies Keuleers, a translator for the organisation, mentioned.

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“It’s really challenging and stressful and especially for them, not knowing how many more times they will have to move and refusing to go without the animals,” Ms Keuleers mentioned.

“They’re looking for a more permanent place to move south, but they have to take all the animals with them,” she added.

As the rescue confronted additional displacement and lack of important provides, it referred to as on the Israeli authorities to permit animal meals and medication into Gaza as a part of a global group of animal rescue organisations.

In Defence of Animals, an American animal welfare marketing campaign group, revealed an open letter to the Israeli Knesset and members of the conflict cupboard urging them to permit rescuers to assist the animals.

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However, the organisation is but to obtain a “single response” from the Knesset regardless of sending over 30 different emails to the parliament, it mentioned.

The sanctuary was arrange in 2006 by Mr El-Arr’s 50-year-old father, Saeed El-Arr, after he says he noticed authorities officers encouraging the killing of stray animals.

He launched into a nine-month coaching course in Russia and registered Sulala in Gaza City as an official charity to work as a canine, cat and donkey shelter.

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“Our entire family loves animals and takes care of them. This is because of our father and Sulala’s director and founder, Saeed Al-Err,” Mr Al-Err mentioned.

“We were founded on this principle. The strength comes from the heart. We cannot stop this work for one minute. This is how we were raised. We will continue saving animals until our last breath,” he mentioned.

The conflict started when Hamas militants invaded Israel on 7 October 2023, killing round 1,200 individuals and taking 250 hostages. Since then, Israel’s air and floor offensive has killed greater than 45,200 Palestinians, in accordance with Gaza’s well being ministry.