After her father passed away when she was 10, she got to spend her summer vacations with her uncle and his British wife, who was also her teacher at school. They lived in Tahrir Square, downtown Cairo. From the first day of her staying with them, her story began. They had six dogs: Tango, whom they adopted when they were in Kenya, and five Egyptian street dogs– the yellowish Gigi, Samson and three puppies. “Gigi was saved by my uncle's wife, when she saw him from the balcony being hit by a car. She rushed downstairs with a blanket, wrapped the injured dog in it and put him down on the grass in the middle of the square. "My uncle and his wife taught me to love animals. I learnt not to differentiate between breeds of dog, as all dogs deserve kindness and help. A dog is man's best friend," Dina Zulfikar told the Egyptian Mail in an interview. Dina, an animal protection activist, graduated in Business Administration from the Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University, in 1983. But she finds protecting animals more interesting than business administration. This 48-year-old woman, like millions of other Egyptians, likes going to the circus and Giza Zoo. She enjoyed the animal acts, but often wondered what made an animal obey its trainer. Dina decided to find out more about the world of circuses, zoos and wildlife, and was in for a shock. She soon discovered the ugly practices behind the circus acts. “Bears, elephants, tigers, lions and other animals do not voluntarily ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. They don't perform these and other difficult tricks because they want to; they perform them because they're afraid of what will happen if they don't.” For animals in circuses, Dina says, there is no such thing as "positive reinforcement" – only varying degrees of punishment and deprivation. To force them to perform these meaningless and physically uncomfortable tricks, trainers use whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks and other painful tools. According to Dina, animal welfare in Egypt isn't taken at all seriously and education is the problem. “We need awareness campaigns and the media should do more to highlight animal welfare, which means the welfare of society, dogs, cats, cattle, equines and wild animals.” She said that there were few animal welfare societies in Egypt, precisely 15, of which two were totally concerned with equines: the Brooke Hospital for horses and the Donkey Sanctuary for donkeys. “Yet there are 28,000 Egyptian organisations working for humans,” Dina explained. “Although the animal welfare societies are very few, they try to do the best they can. The amount of suffering and abuse that happens every day is vast. We need to engage more people in animal welfare.” In Egypt, cats seem to have been domesticated during the Middle Kingdom, from the wild cats in the Delta or the Western Desert. They spread all over the Near East, in spite of a ban on their export. Apart from their usefulness in combating mice, they were, perhaps more than any other animal except dogs, kept as pets. The first known cat name, Nedjem, dates to the reign of Thutmose III, while Amenhotep I's pet Buhaki is depicted sitting between the king's feet, and Prince Thutmose, son of Amenhotep III, buried Ta-miut in its own sarcophagus. Apart from being popular, cats were also considered sacred. But, however much Egyptians loved their cats, it was their dogs they felt closer to, if Herodotus is to be believed. “And in whatever houses a cat has died by a natural death, all those who dwell in this house shave their eyebrows only, but those in which a dog has died shave their whole body and also their head.” (Herodotus, Histories II, pg. 66) Dogs, while often depicted as hunting companions or as watchdogs, are never shown merely as pets. They had individual names and were often buried with their masters, such as Neb, whose stela dating to the first dynasty bears his name and effigy. At Abydos, part of the cemetery was set aside for dogs near the graves of women, archers and dwarves. Up until today, the dog has been an especially important player in society as a hunter, rescue worker and law enforcer, as well as filling the role of beloved pet. Dogs have also been used in many human conflicts. During the First and Second World Wars, dogs were used to guard outposts, detect mines, lay telegraph wire over dangerous ground, send messages and as animal bombs. The dog's ability to perform these various tasks is a direct result of his nature. Of course a dog does not instinctually know how to detect mines, but its ability to learn is purely genetic. With their high intelligence and social nature, dogs are easily trained to perform various tasks and military ones are especially easy, because many of them not only rely on the dog's intelligence and training, but also on his natural instincts. A dog is a man's best friend. We read this phrase in many stories about dogs rescuing people in danger and these stories still make news headlines every day. So why do we also often read reports of dogs attacking people? Why are Egyptians in danger of being bitten by dogs, when roaming dark streets? "It's probably the people who threaten the dogs, because of a lack of knowledge and education. That's why some animal welfare groups and societies are holding sessions in public facilities, to try and get an important message across: how to avoid being bitten by a dog,” Dina explains. They use illustrated material, provided by educational officers, which shows people how to prevent being bitten and contains information about rabies (an acute, infectious, often fatal viral disease of most warm-blooded animals, not just dogs and cats). "The media, educational centres and the Ministry of Health should highlight such educational material to make the public more aware. The Government claims it spends a lot of money on rabies vaccines. Most of this money would be saved if the public were told about how to avoid the dangers." Last year, Dina attended the Asia for Animals Conference, where she was surprised to find that she was the only Arab woman to defend animal welfare. "I attended the conference representing ESAF [the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends], as I am in charge of the Wildlife Unit. Unfortunately, no other Arab country was represented. I made a point and suggested to the organisers names of Arab animal protection societies. "There are quite a few of these societies in the Arab world, while the Gulf area has taken major steps to establish wild animals conservation organisations." ESAF is an officially registered charitable organisation based in Giza. Its mission is to increase public awareness of welfare issues for all animals in Egypt and how these issues have an impact on the Egyptians' environment, while giving a helping hand to abandoned and stray animals. Dina is a fighter who is trying her best to stop the violations of animal rights. For her, it's a matter of life or death. "If I find violations, I immediately take action to stop them. For example, if a donkey is pulling a heavy load, I stop the cart and tell the carter that, if he is serious about his work, he should also be serious about looking after his animal, rather than abusing it. I sometimes refer to passages about this in the Holy Qur'an and Holy Bible," she said. “If I see children abusing an animal, I stop, release the animal and explain that animals are sentient beings. On seeing a pet shop keeping animals in horrible conditions [most pet shops do], Dina immediately asks to speak to the owner, and see that water and food is provided. She might go as far as reporting him to the police unit. “Unfortunately, in this area, the current legislation does not provide protection, but we will not give up. We will continue to keep up the pressure until these pet shops are forced to close."
