Dogs are friends, not second-hand objects that you can dispose of once you get bored. This might sound obvious, but is it really?
Animal welfare groups in the UAE are raising concerns over the soaring numbers of dog-dumping, particularly during the summer season.
Dog shelters are reporting an alarming problem across the UAE with hundreds of unwanted pets being abandoned to fend for themselves.
Most of the people who purposefully ditch their pets are expats living in Dubai.
K9 Friends, a Dubai-based animal shelter, with the professional help of ad agency Saatchi&Saatchi Middle East, launched an awareness campaign to emphasise this horrific and inhumane act of neglect.
The main objective of the campaign is to portray the issue of unwanted pets treated as second-hand objects, thrown away by their irresponsible owners once they leave the country or simply don't want them anymore.
"Dogs are not second-hand objects."
The dogs are often found in extreme heat and barely functioning.
"People are dumping their dogs like objects when they leave Dubai. Most objects people don’t want are placed on second-hand websites like dubizzle. That’s how we came up with the concept of ‘second-hand dogs’. We showed how worthless their lives are to people by placing 52 ads for abandoned dogs on Dubizzle. We described them like objects, before revealing our campaign message: Dogs are not second-hand objects. They are invaluable," Samer Zouehid, Associate Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai, told StepFeed.
The newly-launched campaign focuses on teaching people about the importance of how to treat their pets correctly and encourages the adoption process instead of buying new pets.
As a part of the campaign, there are currently 41 (out of the 52 originally) ads in total labelled ‘second-hand dog’ posted under different categories, such as electronics, furniture, and kitchen equipment, on the UAE online e-commerce platform Dubizzle.
The ads, however, encourage adoption in a creative way by describing the dogs with adjectives such as “vintage second-hand dog”, “original second-hand dog”, or “latest second-hand dog”, and gives the potential new owners a background into the pets' story.
"We currently have over 70 dogs on our priority list needing a space at the shelter. All year dog owners put their dogs on our waiting list as they are leaving Dubai for good and won’t relocate with their dog," Helen Bragger, Manager of K9 Friends Dubai told StepFeed.
"We picked up two puppies this summer who were tied to a tree in the summer heat and left alone in a park," Bragger added.
How you can help?
If you want to give a rescued dog the home it deserves, you can visit the animal shelter or contact K9 Friends directly.
Alternatively, you can also raise awareness of this ever-growing problem by joining the campaign using the hashtag #AdoptInvaluableDogs.
K9 Friends Dubai currently have 120 dogs at the shelter available for adoption and foster. All dogs at the shelter undergo a health check, are vaccinated and chipped before being put up for adoption.