Cats in Dubai - request for help if you can!

[Puppylucky]

Hi all
I'm posting this in the hope that someone in the lovely litter box community knows someone who can help. I was contacted today by the rescuers in Dubai, that we adopted Marvin from, 6 months ago. With the situation in Dubai so precarious, they are anxious that they may have to leave suddenly, which would mean leaving the three rescue cats they have available for adoption behind. They are only a small rescue and don't have lots of international contacts, so I promised I would spread the word. They are lovely people who are very distressed about the situation and the cats are well looked after and socialised. I can vouch for their care by how well Marvin has settled in. I know not everybody agrees with adoption from overseas, but if anyone knows someone who might be interested please PM me for details. Attached are pics of two of the cats. Thank you!

We don't live in a diverse area, so I'd worry about the language barrier when the cat was out in the community.

Birds kill wildlife too and shit in your garden. So do foxes and all number of other wild animals 🤷‍♀️

Keeping a cat locked up indoors is the equivalent of locking a bird in a cage and never letting it fly. It’s for human benefit, nothing else.

What impact is that?

Cats do live happy lives in catproofed gardens. What a ridiculous thing to say they don't. In some places cats do not roam.
Roamning works fine for cats and people around if you don't have 25 small gardens stuck together and surrounded by roads. Not in basic "on top of each other" estate in UK with 15 cats per 24 houses. Someone is bound to become the toilet garden.

The risk of death in flight, the fact that some cat (males especially) can suffer with urinary blockages when stressed, which are often fatal and won’t show themselves until after the cat has been flown halfway round the world at an extortionate cost.

There’s also the risk of importing diseases from
overseas - we’re already seeing dogs imported from places like Romania needing to be euthanised because they have illnesses that will be devastating to the UK dog population if they spread.

I would reach out to your local cat rehoming charities, as someone else has already suggested, to see if they can help match the cats with potential new homes. And maybe organisations who do international adoptions from other countries, to see if they have any suggestions.

I don’t agree, sorry.

Cats may adapt to being locked inside our homes and gardens but that isn’t the same as them thriving or living their best natural lives.

Controversially, I actually think it should be illegal to have indoor cats unless for health reasons, and you should need a certificate signed by a vet to say your cat can’t go out.

If a cat chooses to stay inside or doesn’t want to leave their garden then that’s fair enough, but not giving them the choice is quite another. Would you get a bird only to lock it in a cage 24/7? Get a dog and never walk it? It’s the same thing imo.

Look your post is based on one cat. IF you are the cat lover you profess to be then let this thread stand without your comments detracting from the original point of it. It doesn't matter whether someone's cat is indoor or outdoor on this thread- it's about the possibility of relocating animals. It happens from all over the world - Europe, Ukraine and now Dubai and other parts of the Middle East.

Under proper schemes animals are regulated and health checked. Again you're talking about your one cat and extending it to the whole cat population.

A secure garden allows all that.

It does, but it’s still not the same as allowing them to roam, hunt, climb and actually be cats.

It's not the same thing at all, especially compatison to bird cage. That would be a cat locked in spare room only.

I know lots of people here don't agree with it, but imho it's mainly because accepting it would mean owners would actually have to put some work in their cats by providing more entertainment in their houses and gardens rather than having that without effort via others' houses and gardens.

It is the same thing - locking a cat inside a house is the same thing as locking a bird inside a cat (or a rabbit inside a hut) The fact that it’s go multiple rooms doesn’t stop it from being a cage.

Locking cats is cruel. Mine have tons of indoor interaction but nothing beats the happiness they get when they can go out and explore and be actual cats, rather than human companions.

So why aren't your friends doing this then?

I’m not talking about my one cat at all. I work with animals everyday (including many overseas rescues) and sadly see the impact of them being imported to this country on a daily basis.

Maybe a set up where your pets' happiness depends on access to other people's (and other pets') usually already small spaces is not the best, you know....

We had a cat that had never gone out (someone couldn't keep them any more). We would have the doors open but she wouldn't go out until one day another cat walked across the lawn, she rushed out and chased it off then padded the grass in amazement, very happy outside after that.

I would be concerned about the risk of rabies.
The UK is rabies free, we cannot guarantee other countries are.

You can vaccinate for rabies, and presumably there would be some quarantine.

There is no quarantine for animals coming from
Dubai, and as PP said, rabies is rampant over there.

Well, maybe take that up with nature - it’s not exactly my fault that cats have chosen to domesticate themselves yet still need to roam to fulfil their natural instincts 🤷‍♀️

Thankfully the law in the UK is also sensible in this area and allows cats the right to roam.

I’m really shocked that the UK allows non-quarantined animal imports from countries with endemic rabies. How does that work??

Having said all this… OP, what are you looking for? Potential UK homes for these cats where the UK homes give money to pay for flights? Just homes with no financial contribution? Or adopters based in the UAE?

It to me it seems a bit premature to be shipping cats out of the UAE right now, given the situation has a high chance of being quite temporary.

In America the vast majority of cats are kept indoors and cat charities and welfare associations actively campaign for people to do this. There are advantages and disadvantages for the welfare of the cat of indoor or outdoor life. Personally I'd rather let them out and accept the risk of injury or loss.

I do think the idea of cats being flown across the world when there are loads if cats needing homes here is ridiculous. Also the idea you need a spare room for a cat! Cats tend to help themselves to whatever space there is and actively avoid cat beds and similar spaces you've specifically set up for them.

Rabies is not rampant in Dubai. It seems odd that you do not know this. Quarantine is not needed for animals from Dubai as they adhere to the DEFRA British issued standards. Again you don't mention this - odd. You do continue to detract from the main point of this thread which demonstrates clearly you are not an animal lover at all. You seem to be only interested in your own pov. I won't contribute further to your derailment. Perhaps you would prefer the cut and thrust of AIBU.

Answer- they don't if animals are brought in legally.