Caring about Dubai’s Stray Cats

When Kevin Kwagga, 27, from Uganda saw a cat hit by a car, he knew he wanted to help as
many of them as possible

Kevin Kwagga moved to Dubai in 2017 to work as a security guard. Although he has always loved cats,
he never set out to rescue them until 2018, when he saw a cat get hit by a car and watched the driver
place the cat on the side of the road and drive away.

“The cat was in terrible, terrible pain. It was around 9pm and I didn’t know anything about vet care. I
just grabbed the cat, and I was trying to stop taxies and they all said they couldn’t help me. Finally,
somebody stopped, and we went to a 24-hour vet and the cat had to be put to sleep. The emergency
consultation was AED 600 and the procedure was AED 450. I didn’t have that money. I told the doctor I
would be paid in a few days, and I offered to leave my phone with him. Something resonated with the
vet, and they did everything for free. From that day, I never stopped noticing cats,” said Kwagga.

Each month Kwagga was paid, he’d set aside AED 500 to buy food. One day somebody told him to start an Instagram page and kevinofdxb was born to highlight the issues around Dubai’s stray cat population and be reachable if people want to help because each individual can make a difference. Kwagga also shares the vet’s bills on his Instagram because while he has veterinary help, the clinic has capped their assistance at AED 20,000. He never takes the money directly; he always provides the vet’s bank details to anyone willing to help. Until those fees are settled, he cannot get care for other cats that are brought to him. At the time of the interview, he had cats that were quite ill and in need of care.

“Sometimes people tell me to kill the cats because they’re already suffering, but that’s not how it is supposed to be, we are not God. Yes, sometimes it has to happen because there is no hope and they won’t have a good quality of life, but I cannot just decide to put a cat to sleep because the bill is going to be AED 1,000,” said Kwagga. He was told to put one of the cats currently in his care to sleep. Instead, he took it to a vet in Umm Suqiem, and although the treatment cost him, the cat is now ready for his forever home.

Kwagga has had a few fallouts with his family, particularly in the early days of helping cats. “At one time
I was spending everything I was earning on cats and sometimes I would have to call home and ask for
money, which did not sit well with my family. But it’s been sorted, it’s all right.”

AWARENESS
Kwagga not only wants to raise awareness in general but ideally, he would love for stories like his to
reach the UAE government. “I would love to see government-funded animal shelters. I don’t think we don’t have them because the Government doesn’t want to implement them – it’s very clear that our
government cares about animals.” He cited the examples of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai’s recent adoption of Grace, a saluki mix, after she was found with multiple wounds after being shot with a pellet gun. “I think we need a way to pass the information to the Government so they can see the full scope of what is happening,” he said.

He added that having government-funded TNR (trap, neuter, release) programmes will go a long way in
addressing the stray population as well as helping the existing animals that require care, without
overwhelming vets and the capacity of foster homes. A regulated TNR programme will also provide the
Government with accurate data on the stray cat population.

Another issue that the government could help tackle is people dumping their pets without
consequences. “Somebody dumped a Maine Coon in my area. Those cats are exotic, which means
somebody paid a lot of money for it. They had shaved this cat and thrown him out. They probably left
the country, but there is no database of owners. When you leave the country, you should have to
explain what has happened to your pets – either provide their travel documents or proof that your pet
has been rehomed. We need a database that will hold people accountable if they are going to have pets.”

Kwagga has over 100 messages from people asking him to take in their cats, with some even threatening to dump their animals if he refuses. “People are guilt-tripping me into taking the cats because they know I care. It’s not right. But at the end of the day, you end up fighting to do this because if someone says they will throw the cat out and the cat dies, as someone who cares about animals, I cannot forgive myself for it.”

While Kwagga does what he can in terms of taking in strays that need care, he is also fully aware of how quickly disease can spread among cat colonies, so he separates cats with ringworm in cages in his apartment until they are healed. But his space is limited.

FEEDING AND CLEAN UP
Another issue that concerns Kwagga is feeding the cats, or rather, the aftermath. While many rescuers are feeding the cats, which is very helpful, problems arise when they don’t clean up afterwards. So, the municipality will issue fines because somebody has simply thrown the food on the ground. “I believe you should come with plates to put the food into. Then, go around to feed your colony and by the time you finish the last part and come back to where you started, that plate will be empty. Pick it up. That little bit of etiquette goes a long way. Nobody is going to fine you AED 300 when they can see you clean up after yourself.”

This lack of care is partly why some building managers are so against people feeding strays, which is fair. Kwagga admits he wouldn’t want to find cat food dropped over his balcony or scattered around where he lives, causing a hygiene issue.

“I do my feeding from 9pm to 1am. I feed the cats for two hours and use the remaining time to circle back and clean up after myself. If I put out 10 plates in one place and the cats have eaten most of it, I’ll put the remaining food on one plate and take the other nine to the garbage. So, even though we are doing something good, we still have to be considerate because we’re around other people’s properties. In the same way, I have seen other rescuers put food right outside a supermarket entrance. You can’t do that, it’s still somebody’s business,” he said. “When someone tells me they don’t want me to feed the cats at their building, I ask if I can feed cats at their garbage area with a promise to clean up, they are generally happy for me to do it because it keeps the strays from the building entrance.”

Kwagga has agreements with around eight buildings. He sat with the managers and explained what he was trying to do and how he was trying to do TNR in the areas to help address the number of strays at the buildings. He feeds about 500 cats per day, and when he posts asking for help with food, he receives it. Kwagga also asked these building managers to give him a few weeks to try to relocate the cats where possible before they resorted to calling pest control, and he estimates around 60 per cent agreed.

TAKING A TOLL
He added that being a rescuer takes a lot mentally, and it’s not realistic to expect new rescuers to be prepared from the outset. “Rescuing animals is not a job, you don’t get paid. You have to do this during your personal time; you use your own money. It takes a lot out of you mentally, emotionally and financially, and it takes time to see results. I’ve seen a lot of Instagram pages pop up then after two weeks, or after two months, the page disappears,” said Kwagga.

He added that he has friends who have lost their marriages to their rescue endeavours. Other people have lost their jobs, Kwagga being one. When somebody sent him 10 bags of cat food, he kept them in his room. He was told it was a fire hazard and he was putting his roommates at risk, so the security company terminated him immediately. The cost and hassle of taking them to labour court meant he just had to accept it.

Thankfully, he currently has a new job and is able to continue looking after the cats. He tries to do TNR on 30 cats per month and find homes for cats where he can, as soon as he can, so he can take in another that requires help.

Rehoming isn’t always easy. He’s rehomed cats and sometimes had them returned to him. In some cases, the endings aren’t happy. He detailed a story of a woman in Sweden who had homed one of his cats only to message him shortly after to say she wanted to return the cat because it wasn’t using the litter box properly. After frantically posting for help, he found someone in Stockholm who was willing to foster until another home could be found. “I told her someone would come to pick up the cat shortly. She told me that the cat had jumped out of the window and died,” said Kwagga.

However, where possible he chooses to rehome the cats internationally because anyone willing to pay the fees and get the necessary paperwork together is usually serious about adoption and is less likely to dump the cats.

For local adoptions, Kwagga works closely with the necessary bodies for a rescue rate where the cat can be vaccinated, spayed, microchipped, and be issued their Dubai Municipality tag and their pet passport for AED 450. If people aren’t willing to pay for these procedures, he gets put off allowing people to take the cat because if the cat gets sick, the vet’s fees are likely to be a lot higher. “If a person is willing, I make sure I do a home visit via a Zoom call to see where the cat is going to live. I ask how many hours a day the cat is going to be left alone. I ask if they have children and if the house is pet friendly,” he added.

The one other factor preventing people from adopting, or even fostering, is the unfortunate number of buildings in Dubai which are not pet-friendly. “I never understand why pets having is an issue because in every building there is a security deposit; if my cat damages your property, use the security deposit. But, this is another issue to be raised with the valid authorities. I think with a great system of communication, and the right sources of information being put out there, we can actually make a difference,” said Kwagga.

Get in touch: @kevinofdxb

This article appeared in Issue 002 – the Men’s Edition