Adopt my cats or they’ll be euthanised: Owner

Published Wednesday, February 20, 2013

By Majorie van Leijen

A rather alarming advertisement appeared on the classifieds website Dubizzle yesterday, sparking uproar among animal lovers.

Two lovable cats, one under a year, female, and one male cat of two years old need to re-homed because of the sudden departure of their owners.

No money is asked for the cats. Rather, the owners are clearly in need of somebody to take the cats, as they write:

“Please understand that we will not willingly euthanise the cats, but it is common for cats to be collected in our area, and then euthanised. We will have no choice but to put them on the street to fend for themselves, we would love to keep them, but we have an emergency situation which doesn’t allow us to take them. Hope you can help.”

The ad was posted on an online forum, where people expressed their unbelief over the ad, with one respondent writing: “How dare they threaten to dump their cats on the street to quote ‘fend for themselves’ if no one volunteers to adopt them, especially as they state that more than likely they will be picked up off the street by municipality & euthanised!!! I am stunned!”

“I just wanted to explain the desperation of the situation I am in,” said the lady who posted the ad on Dubizzle.com when contacted by this reporter for a clarification.

“We have to leave unexpectedly, and we do not have much time. We really want these cats to find a home,” she said.

“But I do believe it is better to leave cats on the street rather than in a cage in a shelter. Cats have a very good life on the street and people feed them,” she adds.

Animal welfare organisations have since long tried to minimise the stray cat population in the UAE, encouraging pet owners to plan their departure and think through the responsibilities of owning a cat, or any pet.

The cats on Dubizzle.com had not been adopted until the writing of this piece.

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