It’s not easy being an animal in Jordan.  One of our pair of mini-dachshunds escaped to the street last November and was killed in a hit and run.  Distraught, we called friends asking what Amman regulations were regarding burying an animal.  We were told to drop Toby in the trash can, leave him in the street, toss him in an empty field, or set him on fire: I can only guess this heartless advice was well-intended. We buried Toby in our garden.

I understand the Islamic attitude toward dogs: a majority of both Shi’a and Sunni Muslims consider the animals to be unclean, and it’s uncommon for practicing Muslims to keep dogs as pets. There is contradiction, as it’s written that the Prophet Mohammad advocated kindness to all animals.

Ex-pat friends have since told stories that will make your tail curl.  Neighbors, annoyed at a dog’s barking, fired a shotgun over a garden wall and blew off its head.  Others left bowls of poisoned meat out for a pair of poodles to munch on, they experienced an excruciating death.

Perhaps this isn’t as extreme as the Chinese practice of cooking pups alive, but dogs and cats suffer a terrible existence in Jordan.  Rejected by the local population as little more than vermin, they are also targeted by well-publicized government elimination campaigns that include inhumane Strychnine poisoning and mercenary snipers (gunmen are paid by the number of  kills).

Children regularly torture animals, dousing them in acid, setting them afire, and mutilating their tails and ears with rough knives and razors.  A rural practice to “toughen up” puppies involves hacking off their ears and then forcing the animals to eat them.  Cats are moving targets for lethal rock-throwing, and following heavy rainfall, they’re often drowned in standing water.

Working animals also suffer immensely.  They are beaten, starved, dehydrated, and tied with tight wires or ropes that, over time, grow into their necks.

The Humane Center for Animal Welfare is the sole animal shelter and hospital in Jordan,  a private humanitarian facility dedicated to raising awareness, particularly in poverty pockets, and providing mobile veterinary services for working animals across the Kingdom.  There are other rescue groups run out of private homes by animal lovers with unflagging dedication. (I’m fostering a pup from one right now – oh, who am I kidding? He’s a keeper, look at that face!)

Interested in making a difference?  Start by signing the AVAAZ petition (<-direct link there) to urge the Jordanian government to immediately stop brutal killing of their stray population. They also seek to implement an improved “Animal Protection Act”, and to enforce that law.  Share it with friends and post it on your Facebook page.

Are you local to Amman?  Stop by the Humane Center for Animal Welfare – Jordan’s ersatz petting zoo where at any time you can see monkeys, eagles, peacocks and turtles (in addition to rabbits, guinea pigs and an astounding array of cats and dogs all available for adoption).  Check out their website for volunteering opportunities.  They also seek steady donations of goods and, of course, money.

Or if you are interested in simply fostering a local dog (all ages available), drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with one of the privately run shelter groups.

Image of injured dog courtesy of Jordan’s Humane Center for Animal Welfare – NOTE: He fully recovered!

The post Act Now to Help Jordan Learn to Befriend Man’s Best Friend appeared first on Green Prophet.

Nemacheilus dori is quite small, measuring only two inches in adulthood. They are the only fish in this particular wetland area and are notoriously difficult to see with the naked eye. That`s because “their color is very similar to that of the ground and they like to be under stones,” says Dana Milstein, an aquatic ecologist for the Nature and Parks Authority.

The fish is challenged in particular by lack of water flows.  The natural spring at Ein Malkoach flows at about 5 cubic meters of water per hour – not enough for the Nemacheilus dori to migrate and seek shelter.  That`s why the Nature and Parks Authority built two additional artificial ponds connected to the river.

The Authority now pumps water into those ponds to create flow.

With a rapidly growing populace and extremely limited real estate (Israel is about the size of New Jersey), ecologists need to think creatively to protect increasingly threatened wildlife and bolster diminishing habitat.

Israeli ecologists have fought to save other critically endangered species over the years. For example, two threatened species of sea turtle – Greens and Loggerheads – nest every year on the beaches north of Tel Aviv.

After the number of female turtles migrating to the beaches plummeted, the Nature and Parks Authority built a hatchery.  Now, with the help of staff and volunteers who monitor the nests, the numbers are steadily increasing.

Additionally, Israel has fully protected 3% of the Mediterranean region and 20% of the desert region as nature reserves. Special rescue operations for protected species such as the leopard, gazelle, ibex and vulture have been undertaken, including establishment of feeding stations and nesting sites.

The country has even taken a few notes from the Bible in its conservation efforts, breeding and reintroducing animals which historically populated the hills and deserts of the Land of Israel into suitable habitats. Such species include the white oryx, ostrich, Persian fallow deer, and roe deer.

Israel`s major wildlife legislation, the Wildlife Protection Law, was established in 1955.  At that time, the law treated “game“ species and “protected animals“ differently.  This distinction allowed for widespread sport hunting.  As a result,protections were not comprehensive and many wildlife species were overhunted.

But it`s not just hunting that has led to significant wildlife declines: Israel has changed significantly during the last 50 years in ways that have severely impacted animals.  Threats to wildlife include habitat loss from housing and infrastructure development, urbanization, appropriation of land for agriculture, pesticide spraying, poisoning and uncontrolled hunting.

In 2010, Israel´s legislature amended the Wildlife Protection Law. The amendment instituted new regulations to control the numerous threats to wildlife.  The changes were sweeping.  All wildlife are now defined as protected.  Sport hunting licenses have been fully revoked.  Transferring and abandoning wildlife is prohibited.  Poisoning wildlife or trading in fur is punishable as a crime.  And stricter penalties are available to enforcement authorities.

An additional reason for the amendment was to implement the requirements of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, to which the country is a signatory.

With the new ponds built by the Nature and Parks Authority, the Nemacheilus dori now swims in flows of 12 cubic meters per hour.  That`s more than double the volume of the river before the artificial ponds were built.  More creative solutions will be needed as wildlife in Israel feel the pressure from human activity.

Above image via the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

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