Ashraf Sadek.
Cairo
Trade in police dogs, including very expensive species, has soared in Cairo as the lack of security has reached its highest levels since the January 25 Revolution, the buyers and sellers have agreed on Wednesday.
Dogs, estimated to be worth LE6 million, have been sold since last January, they said, adding that the figure is expected to rise as long as the police are keeping a low profile and the people feel unsecure.
“As the security crisis deepens, the demand for police dogs rises, boosting sales of German Shepherds and Rod Filler, which are used for protection purposes,” Hassan Youssef, a dog trader in the Cairo neighbourhood of Shubra, has said.
Youssef, who sells a wolf puppy for LE600, said that trade in dogs has exceeded the food trade thanks to lack of police and the presence of armed street gangs in remote areas of the capital, which has an estimated population of 18 million.
However, he expressed his fears that police dogs would fall into the wrong hands, which would use them to terrorize the people. “These activities are considered high profit and low-risk,” he said, lamenting the fact that some gang members raise these attack dogs against their fellow Egyptians.
Ahmed Abdul Aziz, an assistant working with Youssef, said that the gangs use highly trained dogs for extorting money from the people.
“At the present situation, I expect a further boom in dog sales,” he said, warning of potential high risk of a public security threat because of the improper use of these dogs by some people. But, his colleague, Abdul Rahman Sayyed, said that the use of dogs to hunt down anyone trying to enter people’s homes or property illegally is a new phenomenon which has only been occurring since 2011.
“Many people in rich or poor Cairo districts have been using dogs in protecting their homes and shops against thieves and intruders,” Sayyed, a secondary school student, said.
Ahmed Saber, who has a stand at el-Sayyeda Aisha Flea Market, said that he had sold a male two-year-old Great Dan puppy for LE3,000 to a Cairo family.
“This dog is brought up to protect your house or farm,” Saber, a university student, said, adding that the Great Dan is a very dangerous and aggressive breed of dogs that are trained to attack intruders and cause severe bodily injuries to them
Saber recalled an incident in which one of his Great Dan dogs attacked a thug, who terrorized the residents of the street where he lives.
“It mauled his hand. He had to undergo an urgent surgery in order to save it from being amputated,” he said, adding that he could not help stop the dog, whom he named Whisky.
Saber said the price of a Bulldog soared from LE15,000 to LE30,000 a piece over the past two years.
Meanwhile, Ali Rashwan, a pet shop owner in the Cairo neighbourhood of Hadyek el-Qubba, said that fears of rising crime due to the lack of security have been sending dog sales sky high, and the big demand for ‘man’s best and most faithful friend’ during the past two years proved it.
Rashwan said that many people thronged his shop in Hadyek el-Qubba, where the famous brand names of Black Jacks, Silver Jacks, Great Dans, and Bulldogs are sold.
“I have had a huge increase in sales since January 28, 2011, just after the police disappeared from Cairo streets,” Rashwan said, adding that
he had sold more than 500 dogs in April and May alone.
“The high rates of crime since 2011 have increased dogs sales,” Rashwan said, adding that he has got a lot new buyers, especially women and villa owners.
Fawzi Faheem, who came to Rashwan’s shop to buy the first dog in his life, said that feels unsafe in this neighbourhood of nearly two million people and decided he needed a means of self-defence.
“Two weeks ago, my two sisters were threatened by a man with a sword while they were walking home,” Faheem, a junior bank teller said, adding that he wanted to buy a wolf dog now that the police proved to be ineffective to protect the people.
The worries over security are strong enough to overcome reluctance among Egyptians to use dogs because of Islamic religious taboos that consider dogs unclean animals.
While private security firms often used sniffing dogs to protect five-star hotels and shopping malls, the majority of the Egyptians relied on them far less because of religious reasons.
“Our culture is different from the European and the American cultures,” said Hajja Madeiha, who refuses to buy a dog.
Besides the religious sensitivities, Hajja Madeiha, a widow living in a villa, said she is simply not used to owning dogs to meet her security needs.
In addition, the dog, itself, costs about LE1,000 a piece, Hajja Madeiha said.
“That does not include the cost of the dog’s monthly needs that range from food to medical care and training,” she said.
However, Rashwan said that he believe the police dogs would change some Muslim feelings about canines.
“I believe many people will come to understand and appreciate the usefulness of dogs and how good they are for protecting their lives and property. They are man’s best friend,” he said.
