The Wave Cats & Dogs Rescue

Starting from humble beginnings last year with only threevolunteers, the Wave Cats and Dogs Rescue has gone fromstrength to strength and now boasts around 55 volunteerswho are committed to the conservation of our four-legged-friends.

In partnership with Al Mouj Muscat, they work tirelesslymanaging the stray cats and dogs within our community; theirfundamental ethos to deal with all cases with compassionand humanely. One of the founding members, Vanessa De Vytsaid “All the volunteers want to thank Al Mouj managementfor their support and for giving us a wonderful location wecan use for our storage and yard sales”.

Some cats and dogs are neutered and released back intothe community, others are put up for adoption in Europe andNorth America. Animals found with injuries are given medicalsupport, some particularly wily and unmanageable animalsare relocated to low density areas. This strategy has seen areduction of reported stray animals within the community

Why release strays back into the community? Won’t they bea nuisance again?

Not all animals are released back, the majority of puppies andkittens are put up for adoption, others after being neutered, ear tagged and with a collar are vaccinated and introducedback into the community. The rationale being that eachparticular animal protects their territory, reintroduction thusavoids other strays from occupying that area; as the animalcannot reproduce they no longer exacerbate the problem.This model of stray animal management, rather than toeliminate which only serves to create an opening for morestrays, has been successful and the group is in discussion toextend this programme nationally.

How can you do your bit to support?

• Look after your own pets – ensure they are registered,neutered and chipped
• Don’t feed stray cats and dogs
• Don’t tamper with the feeding stations that are discretelylocated within the community
• Don’t harm or hurt any stray, particularly those that have acollar and are tagged

Running expenses including things like vet bills, food andlodgings for the animals are incurring considerable fnancialstrain on the organization. If you want to help then why notsupport The Wave Cats & Dogs Rescue’s weekly yard salethat’s held at Al Mouj Muscat, outside the Project Offce andbehind the Sales Centre (either by buying or by donatingunwanted items) or by donating pet food (preferable dry andtinned cat and dog food only).

The work that Al Mouj Muscat has embarked on with TheWave Cats & Dogs Rescue heralds the start of a meaningfulpartnership and represents a pilot template that we in theCommunity Management team would like to emulate withother interested volunteer led groups.