Perween Rahman was a huge animal lover with a soft spot for homeless strays. She was also very helpful to PAWS and a mentor we looked to for guidance. Furthermore, she had offered to help us set up a humane stray dog management pilot project in Orangi.
On March 13th this year she was murdered by armed assailants when returning home from work. Her death is a tragic loss to humanity and a big blow for PAWS, both personally and professionally. However we are encouraged by her example to work relentlessly and undeterred by obstacles, and her immense optimism that could find reason for hope in the most dismal situation, thereby turning it around.
We request our well-wishers to please support Perween’s Justice page and help spread the word. Do ‘like’ it and share with friends, family and colleagues.
The Express Tribune’s video about helping animals in need. Features veterinarians Dr. Mohammad Ayaz Ali of PAWS and Dr. Zulfiqar Otho of the Karachi Animal Hospital.
“Why waste time on animal rights when humans don’t get their rights here?” is the usual response to the idea of animal welfare or animal rights in Pakistan. Meanwhile, animal lovers and activists strive to change the mindset that makes both these issues mutually exclusive.
Carol Noreen is an animal lover. A school principal by profession, everyday, she puts on a big cooking pot of dog and cat food on her stove. The idea is to provide food to owners who cannot afford to feed their animals. One such owner is her watchman who has adopted a stray cat.
“I cook food for the animals myself, I do not like to leave this job to my servants,” she says.
Noreen volunteers for Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and has rescued several strays. She shares one such instance when she saw an injured dog, at PIA Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, while going to work. Since she could not rescue it all alone she called up her team for help. The vet in the team, sedated the dog, and took it for treatment.
Dr. Zulfiqar Otho and Dr. Shalla Hayat of the Karachi Animal Hospital check a blind donkey rescued by PAWS.
All creatures on earth are sentient beings. There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings – but they are communities like you.
The Quran 6:38
Swiss animal rights lawyer, Antoine Goetschel, recently made international news when he defended a dead pike in a case of cruelty by a local fisherman who was overheard boasting about landing the fish after a ten minute long struggle. The basis of his argument was that fish are sentient beings and that the fisherman had caused the pike needless pain. Islam is a religion where the sentience of all animals has been declared in the Quran. However, the expected application of such a belief is sadly amiss in Pakistani society. In fact, many of the most vocal advocates for animal rights in the history of Pakistan have been non-Muslim. Continue reading →
Karachi: In a city rife with political violence and terrorism, animal welfare often takes a backseat. But six years ago, Mahera Omar and Maheen Zia decided to take things into their own hands, or rather, their own PAWS.
Guest post by Syed Rizvi, President and Founder, Engineers and Scientists for Animal Rights, San Jose, CA
The mentality that conveys the message that we should help humans before we help animals is the same mentality among some who say we in America should help the poor in America before we help the poor in the third world countries. There are still some whites in the west who believe their predominantly white country should help the whites before helping blacks. Continue reading →
KARACHI: Talking about animals, one must be used to the spectacle of undernourished donkeys, horses and camels as well as flea-infested cats and dogs in the city. Also worth mentioning are the illegal animal markets, where animals are kept in dirty, over-crowded and unhygienic conditions.Unfortunately animal welfare is an alien concept in our society and it is proved countless of times when we go through news flashes about poisoning of street dogs and cats, indiscriminate shooting of crows or eagles, hunting of endangered animals and birds as well as public displays of cruelty by pelting stones or cutting off of ears and tail of street cats just for fun.
Perween Rahman was a huge animal lover with a soft spot for homeless strays. She was also very helpful to PAWS and a mentor we looked to for guidance. Furthermore, she had offered to help us set up a humane stray dog management pilot project in Orangi.
“Why waste time on animal rights when humans don’t get their rights here?” is the usual response to the idea of animal welfare or animal rights in Pakistan. Meanwhile, animal lovers and activists strive to change the mindset that makes both these issues mutually exclusive.
Karachi: In a city rife with political violence and terrorism, animal welfare often takes a backseat. But six years ago, Mahera Omar and Maheen Zia decided to take things into their own hands, or rather, their own PAWS.