ADDIS ABABA: Among the whimpering of rescued dogs, a soft whistle cuts through. It’s Feven Melese, a young woman hoping to support thousands of abandoned dogs on the streets of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The 29-year-old music degree graduate has put up a rare shelter on the outskirts of the city, where she provides food and a place to stay for 40 dogs, while feeding about 700 others every week on the streets.
Melese said she has found new homes for more than 300 dogs in the past two years. Together with fellow young animal rights activists, they are on a mission to change the widespread perception in Ethiopia that dogs are protectors working for humans, not pets to be cared for.
As skyscrapers rise in Addis Ababa, the estimated 200,000 unclaimed dogs roaming the streets have fewer places to hide. Many dog owners have abandoned them as they move into new residential apartments whose landlords enforce a no-pet policy.
Authorities have expressed concern about the spread of diseases like rabies, and in recent months they have faced criticism after poisoning thousands of stray dogs ahead of major events, following an incident in which a resident was bitten.
Melese said many in Ethiopia do not treat dogs with care and abandon them when they become inconvenient.
“In Ethiopia, the society does not understand. They say, are they (dogs) hungry? Do they have feelings? They don’t care if they eat or not. If they are sick, they don’t care,” she said.
Melese’s shelter, though small and makeshift, is also a haven for dogs that survived road accidents. One of them, Konjit — whose name means “beautiful” in Amharic — wears a neck brace to help support healing, and wags her tail as Melese cuddles her.
Melese said that as a child in Addis Ababa, she cared for stray dogs and ended up with five that came to her home and stayed.
“My mother got angry and tried to take them back to the streets, but they kept coming back and I would still take them in,” she said.
Some residents in Addis Ababa say they are worried about the dangers posed by stray dogs and that the animals should be taken to a shelter.
“They (dogs) do not allow people to pass on the road and can be aggressive, even biting. They are very dangerous for the community, as their owners are unknown. No one can safely pass this way at night,” said Yonas Bezabih.
The Addis Ababa city administration official, Melese Anshebo, told The Associated Press that the government was planning to begin a dog registration and vaccination exercise to ensure that dog owners are fully responsible.
“To those who seem to have no owners, we will aim to find them shelters and some of the stray dogs who show symptoms of viruses, we will be forced to eliminate them,” he said.
A veterinarian, Dr. Alazar Ayele, said rabies remains a serious public health concern in Addis Ababa and expressed concern that resources for vaccination, sterilization and sheltering are still very limited.
“What we need are coordinated, humane approaches, more vaccines, trained veterinarians and community education to protect both people and animals,” he said.
Luna Solomon, a friend of Melese’s, volunteers several times a week at the shelter to help feed the dogs and check on those that may need a vet.
Solomon said many owners abandon female dogs because they are likely to reproduce.
“People don’t usually pick female dogs because it takes a lot of responsibility to raise a female dog. There’s a lot that comes with it. Also, they don’t want to deal with her having puppies,” she said.
Biruk Dejene met Melese on social media when he was looking for a home for his dog that was being mistreated by his housemates.
He now gets to see his dog, Zuse, when he visits the shelter every week to volunteer.
While many see dogs as their guardians, there is often a lack of reciprocity by the owners, Dejene said.
“There’s no attachment. They just want them for their benefits and so on, so we’re doing a little bit of awareness of that,” he said.
Melese and her friends will continue advocating for dogs both on social media and in the streets of Addis Ababa, she said. They hope the government will consider mass vaccinations, neutering programs, and incentivized adoption to help give stray dogs a second chance at a home.
Abandoned dogs in Ethiopia’s capital get little care. A woman wants to change that
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Abandoned dogs in Ethiopia’s capital get little care. A woman wants to change that
- The 29 year old music degree graduate has put up a rare shelter on the outskirts of the city, where she provides food and a place to stay for 40 dogs, while feeding about 700 others every week on the streets
Australia to toughen gun laws as it mourns deadly Bondi attack
- Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of leaders of Australia’s states and territories in response on Monday, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation”
SYDNEY: Australia’s leaders have agreed to toughen gun laws after attackers killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, the worst mass shooting in decades decried as antisemitic “terrorism” by authorities.
Dozens fled in panic as a father and son fired into crowds packing the Sydney beach for the start of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a local rabbi were among those killed, while 42 others were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of leaders of Australia’s states and territories in response on Monday, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation.”
Albanese’s office said they agreed to explore ways to improve background checks for firearm owners, bar non-nationals from obtaining gun licenses and limit the types of weapons that are legal.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the town of Port Arthur in 1996, which led to sweeping reforms long seen as a gold standard worldwide.
Those included a gun buyback scheme, a national firearms register and a crackdown on ownership of semi-automatic weapons.
But Sunday’s shooting has raised fresh questions about how the two suspects — who public broadcaster ABC reported had possible links to the Daesh group — obtained the guns.
- ‘An act of pure evil’ -
Police are still unraveling what drove Sunday’s attack, although authorities have said it targeted Jews.
Albanese called it “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores.”
A string of antisemitic attacks has spread fear among Australia’s Jewish communities after the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
The Australian government this year accused Iran of orchestrating a recent wave of antisemitic attacks and expelled Tehran’s ambassador nearly four months ago.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of “pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the months before the shooting, referring to Canberra’s announcement that it would recognize Palestinian statehood in August.
Other world leaders expressed revulsion, with US President Donald Trump condemning the “antisemitic attack.”
The gunmen opened fire on an annual celebration that drew more than 1,000 people to the beach to mark Hanukkah.
They took aim from a raised boardwalk at a beach packed with swimmers cooling off on the steamy summer evening.
Witness Beatrice was celebrating her birthday and had just blown out the candles when the shooting started.
“We thought it was fireworks,” she told AFP. “We’re just feeling lucky we’re all safe.”
Carrying long-barrelled guns, they peppered the beach with bullets for 10 minutes before police shot and killed the 50-year-old father.
The 24-year-old son was arrested and remains under guard in hospital with serious injuries.
Australian media named the suspects as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram.
Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, said the father arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998 and had become a permanent resident. The son was an Australia-born citizen.
Hours after the shooting, police found a homemade bomb in a car parked close to the beach, saying the “improvised explosive device” had likely been planted by the pair.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel said his brother-in-law was among the dead.
“We need to hold strong. This is not the Australia that we know. This is not the Australia that we want.”
Wary of reprisals, police have so far avoided questions about the attackers’ religion or ideological motivations.
Misinformation spread quickly online after the attacks, some of it targeting immigrants and the Muslim community.
Police said they responded to reports on Monday of several pig heads left at a Muslim cemetery in southwestern Sydney.
- Panic and bravery -
A brave few dashed toward the beach as the shooting unfolded, wading through fleeing crowds to rescue children, treat the injured and confront the gunmen.
Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired.
The 43-year-old wrestled the gun out of the attacker’s hands, before pointing the weapon at him as he backed away.
A team of off-duty lifeguards sprinted across the sand to drag children to safety.
“The team ran out under fire to try and clear children from the playground while the gunmen were firing,” said Steven Pearce from Surf Life Saving New South Wales.
Bleeding victims were carried across the beach atop surfboards turned into makeshift stretchers.
On Monday evening, a flower memorial next to Bondi Beach swelled in size as mourners gathered.
Hundreds, including members of the Jewish community, sang songs, clapped and held each other.
Leading a ceremony to light a menorah candle, a rabbi told the crowd: “The only strength we have is if we bring light into the world.”
