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The sounds of barking dogs filled the air around a shelter constructed of two-meter-high walls covered with corrugated steel, located in the Shamlan neighborhood on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. In the background, soft meowing could also be heard.
Leila Saleh, a 28-year-old university graduate, was passing through this vacant area when she felt compelled to stop and watch. Her gaze lingered on the cats and dogs—some curled up asleep on the ground while others roamed around or playfully interacted with one another. A pet shelter is a rare sight in a city like Sanaa.
“Opening a shelter for stray, abandoned, or injured animals in Sanaa is a bold idea,” Saleh said when thinking of the millions of people who desperately seek humanitarian assistance and care in her country torn by civil war. According to the UN, an estimated 4.5 million people are displaced in Yemen, and two-thirds of the population, 21.6 million people, are in dire need of humanitarian aid and protection services.
Yet Saleh believes that an animal shelter is not less than any other humanitarian effort. She has been involved in various initiatives in Sanaa, such as offering orphans meals and aiding other vulnerable groups. But just as humans suffer during wartime, pets are not immune to its effects.
In Sanaa, thousands of stray dogs and cats roam the city, scavenging from dustbins and seeking shelter in quieter streets and neighborhoods. Residents rarely show strays kindness, often viewing them as a threat rather than beings in need of care.
Last year, Maha Al-Dhabhani, a 34-year-old Sanaa resident, took the initiative to open a pet shelter with her resources—an effort that has drawn both support and criticism from the local community. She rented a refuge in an empty suburban area to avoid problems with neighbors. However, while some praise Dhabhani’s efforts, critics argue that priority should be given to people struggling with poverty and displacement.
Driven purely by her love for animals, she emphasized that her efforts are not for profit or recognition. She described the “heinous” actions of people across the city killing stray dogs and cats through poisoning and torture as deeply painful. She considered cruelty against animals an act of “inhumanity and wrongdoing.”
In July 2024, a young dog wandered into a tomato farm on the outskirts of Sanaa, angering the farm’s owner, Saleh recalled. “The owner grabbed his rifle and fired at the dog. The bullet struck the outer part of its belly, leaving a severe wound. If it had hit the dog’s head, it would have killed him instantly, sparing him much pain.”
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“If we forget these actions, God will not forget the rights of his vulnerable creatures that are wiped out without committing any guilt,” lamented Al-Dhabhani. Saleh agrees that caring for tame animals should be an integral part of society’s culture, regardless of wartime or peacetime. “In my opinion, treating pets with kindness is the reflection of a society’s level of civilization,” she added.
Before opening the animal shelter, Al-Dhabhani used to care for injured tame strays on the streets and in neighborhoods. Then, she began thinking about having a place where they could receive food and care continuously. Painstakingly, she collected stray cats and dogs in the city and moved them to the shelter.
Today, her shelter is home to around 200 cats and dogs. Al-Dhabhani also sees it as a platform to raise awareness about animal rights and the importance of protecting and adopting them.
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In 2019, the number of stray dogs in Sanaa was estimated at 120,000. Over the past years, authorities have carried out sporadic campaigns to kill dogs in urban districts. In February 2021, authorities in Sanaa said they killed 12,916 stray and rabid dogs to reduce the population of infected dogs. Rabies is a viral disease transmitted through a bite, almost always fatal once symptoms appear. Approximately 17,153 dogs were exterminated in 2022.
According to officials in Sanaa, the spread of these beings in the city is due to several factors, including the migration of dogs from villages and urban areas to search for food in places where there is garbage. Another reason is unregulated breeding on the streets, in some homes, workshop yards, and farms.
With the spread of stray dogs, rabies cases have soared in the city. According to statistics from the Rabies Control Unit in Sana’a, the number of people infected from 2011 to 2019 exceeded 96,000 in Yemen, with an average of 11,000 cases annually. Another 15,000 cases of the disease were reported in 2021. Local reports said about 33 people died of rabies in Sanaa in 2022.
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According to Positive Cities, an international organization focusing on the welfare of stray animals in urban environments, about 75% of dogs and 80% of cats worldwide live as free-roaming animals, many in our towns and cities. “When these populations are unmanaged, they can affect human health, safety, and quality of life, increasing the risk of injuries, diseases, and environmental issues.” Last November, this organization launched a “Positive Cities Pledge” – eight essential commitments that cities can make to improve public health, safety, and community well-being through better animal management.
Faisal Saghir, a 38-year-old resident of Sanaa, has witnessed the campaigns to exterminate stray dogs in Sanaa over the past years. He explained that killing all dogs has neither wiped them out nor stopped their danger. It has instead been an “inhumane” act because some of them are not violent or sick.
“The rabid dogs can be sacrificed. This action is justifiable. However, the tame and healthy ones can be accommodated in shelters. Initiatives like Dhabhani’s can effectively counter the spread of stray dogs in urban neighborhoods,” Saghir said.
University graduate Saleh said the war has impacted people’s attitudes towards pets, making them feel that caring for animals is a luxury they cannot afford. “It is rare to see looked-after pets in Sanaa as families focus on securing their basic needs,” she said.
Still, Al-Dhabhani’s animal shelter initiative has received praise from many Yemenis who believe that pets should receive human-like care. The ten-year-old war has made it challenging for millions of families to offer material support to animal-saving initiatives. However, caring for animals “serves as a reminder that animals feel pain and their suffering matters,” said Saleh.
In 2020, the Sanid Organisation for Nature Conservation, an independent, non-governmental, non-profit civil organization specializing in environmental protection and nature conservation, warned against the inhumane random campaigns targeting stray dogs in Yemen. The launch of such random campaigns, said the organization, can have severe health risks to humans and the environment, and it is against the World Animal Welfare Act.
This organization stressed that campaigns to reduce the uncontrolled increase of stray dogs and cats should ensure the safety of the environment and the community, urging adherence to more humane alternative ways to reduce the spread of free-roaming animals in the city.
Since the shelter opened last year, the number of pets has increased, magnifying the challenges. Al-Dhabhani’s initiative protects vulnerable animals while making the urban environment better and safer without stray or rabid dogs, but it “requires continued material and moral support,” she said.
“I need two workers to help me provide care and veterinary treatment. Additionally, I require medications and food for these pets. Many people express their support in words, but that is not enough,” Al-Dhabhani stated.
Al-Dhabhani believes that dogs are loyal and loving creatures, ready to sacrifice their lives for humans. Despite the safety challenges posed by stray dogs and cats, the intrinsic bond between humans and these animals is vital. Positive interactions between humans and animals in urban settings provide emotional enrichment, enhance our mental and physical well-being, and foster change in a city that has endured the consequences of war. “This truth is often ignored due to misguided upbringing and false beliefs, and these misconceptions need to be corrected,” Al-Dhabhani concluded.
