A few days ago, and specifically on the 25th of September, A dog walk took place in Beirut. So what is the big deal about it? Does that deserve to be written about and discussed in an article?… Well, yes! It more than deserves, especially amid some animal lovers’ rage on social media platforms. Why are animal lovers against animal breeders? And what is the stand of each of them?
“Greenrea.area.me” conducted an interview with both parties, and their answers pretty much sum up the whole story. Tony Mousawwer, Animals lover founder of Animals pride and freedom in Lebanon “APAF”, has posted the following on “Facebook” on the day of the dog walk: “Congratulations for the Dog walk of shame Supported by Dog breeders. Typical Lebanese people. And they call them self Animal lovers”.
Adopt Dogs…
When we interviewed him to ask him about the matter, and why he was against the dog walk, Mousawwer said: “There is a very big difference by a dog walk organized by an animal welfare organization or by dog breeders”, adding “most of the dogs that would be walking in events organized by animal welfare organizations will be adopted or offered for adoption, and they will be mixed breed, not breed dogs”.
He added: “Whenever we organize a dog walk, we would have a message that we would like to reach people, such as saving animals”, asking “What was the message of the last dog walk in Beirut, except advertising to sell more dogs?”
Answering our question on why he thinks people prefer buying a dog instead of adopting one, he asked: “Why would people buy animals if there are many dogs that need to adopted?”, insisting that “there is a need for awareness sessions for people, since many lack it on this level, and there is a need as well to make animal welfare organizations known to everyone”.
He also said: “we oblige people to stick to several rules in order to ensure the best care for the dog”, adding “Breeders care about money at the end of the day, contrary to animal lovers who only care about animals”. But many people say that they prefer to but an animal, since it would be healthy and vaccinated… so what did the animal lover say on that?
Golden Retrievers on the road
“Many people have come to me saying that they bought a “vaccinated” dog, as the dog market told them, to be revealed later that the dog is sick”, adding angrily “the pet shops even refused to give them back their money”. “Breeders promote for a type of dogs each year”, according to Mousawwer who said that “this is really cruel, adding that “in Lebanon, we neither had the golden retriever nor the Labrador several years backwards… but pet shops started selling these types of dogs, and unfortunately, we mostly see these types of dogs as stray dogs recently”.
“A dog walk should be banned if it wasn’t done by an animal welfare association”, he told us. He added: “90% of the dogs that we think are pure breed are actually not pure breed. It is the century’s lie”. Mousawwer gave an example of King Charles spaniel dog, who was named by king Charles, through mixing two types of dogs. So it is not a pure breed.
We asked him why he was really concerned about the animal breeders issue. So, he said that “there is no control for breeding from any ministry…. added to that many newborn puppies get killed because they are born sick. An animal lover would never do that, he confirmed.
Between Breeders and Animal Lovers
Mousawwer wanted his message to reach people, so he said “Animal lovers should not be in that mess… and I know that many of them did not know the background of the recent dog walk, that is done by a breeder, and not an animal lover”.
Did he try to contact the person in charge of the dog walk though?… Tony has talked to him when Alaa Minawi (organizer of the dog walk and owner of Dog Market Lebanon) asked for 50 kittens last year. Mousawwer was really surprised why someone would ask for 50 kittens to put in a dog shelter, especially that the kittens cannot defend themselves, and they will be used to feed dogs undergoing training. Back then, Minawi said that the cats would clean the place from any rats and mice. Mousawwer shared this Facebook post on the matter:
“Cats Protect my dogs”
We contacted Alaa Minawi, in order to clarify all these matters. So, we started our phone interview by talking about the kittens issue. After telling us that this did not take place this year, Minawi said that “kittens would clean the place and would protect the dogs from snakes”, adding “cats know how to deal with a snake once it attacks a dog, while dogs cannot defend themselves in the same way”.
The reason he asked for kittens, and not cats, he told us, is because he wanted them to get used to the place easily. After many cats were lost in the snow, since his shelter is located in the mountains, Minawi needed new kittens for the above mentioned reasons. He also told us than hens contribute in cleaning the place as well, but not as much as cats.
Wouldn’t big cats defend the dogs more than kittens though?… we asked. “Big cats would run away”.
We are not criminals
Back to the dog walk, which the organizer told us the following about “We’re a group of people who organized the dog walk, not for marketing reasons”, adding “we have sponsors for the event, but everything that gets distributed in the dog walk is for free, so there is no money gain”. He also said that there are some people from animal welfare associations in the event.
Why wouldn’t dog breeders help stray dogs though instead of selling dogs?… we asked. “This is the responsibility of municipalities, and I am against poisoning stray dogs, but some people prefer
It is not a shame to be a breeder. We are not criminals. On the other hand, we are professional people who are taking care of the dogs. We train some dogs to become champions in dog show for example, and this happens in most countries around the world.
He also mentioned that animals need lots of care, and that there are many animal welfare associations that are receiving large amounts of money, and they are filling the gaps that are not being filled by the Lebanese state”.
A person who intentionally mates dogs to produce puppies is referred to as a dog breeder. Breeding relies on the science of genetics, so the breeder with a knowledge of canine genetics, health, and the intended use for the dogs attempts to breed suitable dogs. While Minawi says that he sticks to the Lebanese and international laws when performing his “job”, Mousawwer sees that animals should be never sold, and dogs on the streets need to be saves instead of breeding new types of dogs.
Twitter: @Zeina_W_Nasser
