RAD - Lebanon Emergency Dog Rescue Mission

The world “resilient” is often used when describing the people of Lebanon. We assumed the port explosion of last year would be hitting rock bottom, but boy were we wrong…

Recently, another explosion has occurred. This time, a fuel tank exploded, killing 28 and injuring 79. This blast comes as they face a severe fuel shortage that has left most parts of the country in total darkness.

The situation in Lebanon seems to be reaching its pinnacle. With the fuel shortage, the whole country is almost fully shutting down and our partners at Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are losing hope. Their veterinarians are all having to close their doors, local stores and small business are also closing, even the hospitals are having to turn people away. The government is also only giving approximately 1-3 hours a day of electricity to its people. If that, some days, it’s less.

Access to fresh food is becoming scarce without the ability to refrigerate anything, to make matters even worse, both animals and humans alike have extremely limited access to any kind of medication. Even something as minimal as Tylenol is a luxury.

Due to all of the critical events happening including: the collapsing economy, the inflation of prices for basic necessities and the extremely volatile political situation, the animals have been sadly and realistically branded as being irrelevant and are barely even seen as a living being at this time.

Despite these difficult realities, BETA is home to over 1100 animals including 856 dogs. Their numbers rise daily as they continue to rescue. The adoption rate in Lebanon is close to 0%. A large number of dogs at BETA never get adopted and live their whole lives at the shelter.

BETA has sent an international plea for help. RAD feels we must do our part and give our friends a hand, not only will we be taking in dogs this September but we will also be travelling there ourselves in October to do some work with BETA and bring some of these babies home. The more dogs we bring back with us the more room they will have for new intakes.

A large amount of families and individuals are left with no choice but to move out of the country. This means leaving their pets behind and dumping them on the streets to fend for themselves. Thousands of dogs, often dogs abandoned by their families, roam the streets with no place to go and unthinkable dangers to face. 

Though the first animal welfare bill was passed in 2017, which made it illegal to subject any animal to brutality, the abuse in Lebanon is still unbridled and out of control. Lebanon has a history of shooting stray dogs as its preferred method for controlling the animal population rather than supporting neuter/spay initiatives. There is so much hatred, anger, and violence towards these innocent beings. Daily, dogs get shot, hit and/or run over by vehicles, some are tied and dragged for miles alive behind cars and scooters, they are poisoned, beaten, stabbed and so much more for pure giggles and entertainment. A high number of these animals die of a slow extremely painful death. It’s very disturbing.

Our emergency mission is simple: to raise as many funds as possible in order to rescue as many dogs as we can.  The only way we can do that is with your help - the more we raise, the more dogs we save; it’s really that simple. These pups need veterinary care, vaccinations, rehabilitation, travel costs and sometimes more. It costs approximately $1500 USD to vet and bring a dog back to Canada.

We believe we CAN do this all together because we have the raddest community. A community built on kindness, compassion and love. RAD is love and love knows no borders.

Lets bring some babies home! Please donate today and share if you can. ANY amount helps. A tax receipt will be given for all donations of $25 and over.

Thank you for opening your generous hearts and helping our furry companions find their way to a better life.

Sincerely,

Team RAD

RAD is a non-profit rescue organization based in Montreal and Vancouver. We rescue and rehabilitate abused, forgotten and neglected dogs. With love, patience and consistent work, we help them transition from sad to happy, neglected to loved and from desperate to hopeful. We show each dog we rescue that they no longer need to be afraid and are now safe. We educate, collaborate, communicate and advocate about the importance of animal rescue and welfare.