by Marwa Yahya
CAIRO, March 14 (Xinhua) -- When pharmacist Sarah Mahmoud returns home each day to her residential area in southeastern Cairo, the Egyptian capital, she says the trip has become fraught with anxiety.
Mahmoud, a 38-year-old mother of three who has lived in Maadi district since 2014, recalled a time when stray dogs were few and largely harmless, allowing residents to coexist with them peacefully. However, the stray dog population has grown, and their behavior has shifted over the past two years.
"The dogs began moving in packs of 10 to 15, howling loudly and displaying aggressive behavior," she said, adding that she was once bitten on the leg before a doorman intervened.
Mahmoud's experience reflects broader concerns among residents, veterinarians, and individuals working with animal welfare groups in Egypt, prompting the government to step up measures to address the issue.
Figures from the Egyptian Federation for Animal Welfare, a non-governmental organization, quoted by Ahram Online in July 2024, put Egypt's stray dog population at 15 million. By late 2025, however, statistics from Cairo's Veterinary Directorate suggested it had climbed to 40 million.
Mahmoud Hamdy, an official with the Egyptian Veterinarians Syndicate, told Xinhua that Egypt's long-simmering stray dog crisis has reignited fierce debate due to their surging numbers, which have been attributed to the abandonment of domestic pets, uncontrolled breeding, and hybridization with aggressive foreign breeds.
The impact of the issue is increasingly evident in data. According to health ministry data, Egypt recorded about 1.4 million dog bite cases in 2025, up from at least 1.2 million in previous years. Meanwhile, dogs were linked to some 90 percent of rabies cases in Egypt, while in Western countries, the deadly disease is no longer primarily linked to dogs.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization data indicate that, on average, 50 clinically confirmed human rabies cases occur annually in Egypt, mostly among children, with around 70 percent not receiving preventive treatment.
To cope with the situation, Egypt allocates about 1.2 billion Egyptian pounds (about 23 million U.S. dollars) annually for free vaccines and serums, said Hamdy. Victims of dog bites receive four vaccine doses and an injection of rabies immune globulin, costing around 1,250 Egyptian pounds per person.
In mid-January, Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation launched a 180-day plan to tackle the stray dog issue, as part of the national strategy "Egypt Rabies-Free by 2030." The plan includes measures such as establishing shelters for stray dogs and the vaccination and sterilization programs.
"The state adopts a balanced approach that protects citizens while adhering to compassion and humane standards in dealing with animals," said Mostafa Ramadan, head of Cairo's Veterinary Directorate.
As part of the plan, 30 fully equipped vehicles have been deployed to safely transport dogs during field campaigns. Twelve shelters are being established across 12 governorates, including Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, where dogs are vaccinated, sterilized, and returned to their original locations if confirmed to be non-aggressive, said Ramadan.
Ramadan stressed that, however, shelters are not a sustainable solution due to their high costs, adding that removing all dogs from neighborhoods would be counterproductive, as unvaccinated or rabid dogs from other areas could immediately move in.
Sterilization and vaccination are central to Egypt's strategy, said Mona Khalil, chairperson of the Egyptian Federation for Animal Welfare groups in Egypt.
Data showed that in 2025, the General Veterinary Services Authority vaccinated 121,000 dogs and sterilized 8,311 at its veterinary hospitals. The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation said on Feb. 25 that it has vaccinated 12,665 stray dogs and sterilized 1,593 others nationwide since January this year.
"Stray dogs are generally peaceful, and fear humans more than humans fear them," she said, noting that risks stem mainly from cruelty or harassment.
Khalil said that the state adopts a strategy that aligns with science, religion, humanity, and compassion, while ensuring human safety and ending the traditional methods of poisoning and shootings.
Managing stray dogs protects public safety and ecological balance, she said, adding that vaccinated and sterilized dogs help control populations naturally, while community awareness and science-based measures aim to reduce risks and promote humane animal welfare. ■
