Help SARA By Allison Pinski

No, SARA is not a person. SARA stands for the Syrian Association for Rescuing Animals. It is composed of volunteers who are staying behind in war-torn Syria to care for the country’s abandoned animals. The Syrian war has not only displaced millions of people, but also their pets. Unlike these pets, not all families were able to bring their animals with them when they left, or they were killed before they could all leave together.

According to SARA’s Facebook,

“We are a team of members from Damascus City who are active in the field of rescuing, feeding, and treating every animal in need.

We don't have any center or shelter till now, because we don't have enough funding sources.

We get some individual donations when we have special morbidity cases to treat or to rescue.

We have some difficulties to get a governmental license for our organization, because the government is busy with the war issues.
​
Our future ambition is to build a shelter for animals in Damascus.
Till now there is no animal societies in all Syria."

SARA isn’t the only organization helping Syria’s animals. Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel from Aleppo buys meat scraps from a local butcher’s shop to feed around 150 cats everyday. Aljaleel, and other Syrians like him, risk their lives everyday to care for the stray animals. Aljaleel says, “Every day, when I leave my house, I know I might not return. In Syria, it’s only going from bad to worse” (take from here).

You can read more about Syria’s displaced animals here, and Reuters provides pictures here. It is important to remember that humans are not the only victims of war; animals are suffering too.

SARA is currently working to relocate stray dogs at risk to killing sprees and abuse in Damascus. They desperately need funds in order to save as many of these dogs as possible. If you are able to donate money, anything helps. Please check out the fundraiser here and donate if you are able to! The lives of these dogs depends on you.