Gazans defy taboos to rescue, neuter stray animals

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — In the impoverished Gaza Strip, where most people struggle to make ends meet amid a crippling blockade, the suffering of stray dogs and cats often goes unnoticed.Said el-Er, who founded the territory’s only animal rescue organization in 2006, has been trying to change that. He and other volunteers rescue dogs and cats that have been struck by cars or abused and nurse them back to health — but there are too many.So in recent weeks they have launched Gaza’s first spay-and-neuter program. It goes against taboos in the conservative Palestinian territory, where feral dogs and cats are widely seen as pests and many view spaying and neutering as forbidden by Islam.“Because the society is Muslim, they talk about halal (allowed) and haram (forbidden),” el-Er said. “We know what halal is and what haram is, and it’s haram (for the animals) to be widespread in the streets where they can be run over, shot or poisoned.”Islam teaches kindness toward animals, but Muslim scholars are divided on whether spaying and neutering causes harm. Across
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