The sanctuary, called House of Cats Ernesto, includes about 25 animal species — mainly cats, dogs, monkeys, horses and several types of birds such as pigeons, ducks, geese and chickens, in addition to some livestock such as donkeys and goats.
MOHAMMED HARDAN: Not just Syrians have been suffering from the Syrian regime bombardments during the country’s civil war; a large number of animals have perished across Syria, too. In a first step in Syria to save the animals affected by the shelling or abandoned by their owners, a number of volunteers, including a veterinarian, have established an animal sanctuary in the city of Idlib, which is under the control of the armed opposition factions. The sanctuary, called House of Cats Ernesto, includes about 25 animal species — mainly cats, dogs, monkeys, horses and several types of birds such as pigeons, ducks, geese and chickens, in addition to some livestock such as donkeys and goats.
Mohammad Youssef, the veterinarian at the sanctuary, told Al-Monitor, “We are working on sheltering stray animals such as cats and dogs, and we are contacting local councils in the area to help the team carry out awareness campaigns among civilians on the need to care for animals as a humanitarian duty, in addition to the importance of their [animals’] role in maintaining the ecological balance. We are also training cats and dogs on how to deal with humans and how to relieve their needs in the places designated for that, and eat their meals at specific times and places. Then we put them up for adoption. The other part of our work involves rescuing and treating all kinds of injured animals at the clinic [in the sanctuary] and releasing them afterward.”
He added, “In the beginning the purpose of the reserve was limited to treating the animals affected by the shelling, and it was not that developed. We did not have a private clinic and sanctuary at that time, but we tried to organize our work gradually; the sanctuary was established to shelter all kinds of animals in the area. The sanctuary was first established in 2014 in eastern Aleppo, when the area was under the control of the armed opposition factions. Alaa Mohammad al-Jaleel, the founder of the sanctuary in Idlib, turned the garden of his house in Aleppo’s Hanano neighborhood into a place to care for the cats and provide for their needs. Yet Aleppo’s residents were displaced due to the regime shelling back then, preventing Jaleel from expanding his project to include other animal species.
After the Syrian regime and its allies took control of Aleppo at the end of 2016, Jaleel took all the cats that were at his house in Aleppo’s western countryside and fled to Idlib where he worked with other volunteers to establish the House of Cats Ernesto… Despite the tough circumstances in the towns and cities of northern Syria, and amid the shortage of resources and inability of organizations to meet the citizens’ needs, officials are called upon to take steps to care for animals, too. According to Article 2 of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Animal Rights and its 14 principles issued on Oct. 15, 1978, “All animals have the right to the attention, care and protection of man.” Article 3 states that “no animal shall be ill-treated or subjected to cruel acts.” SOURCE…
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