Welfare group ‘Tiger by the Tail’ rescuing abandoned pets in Oman

Muscat: Sixty abandoned cats have been rescued in Muscat during the last nine months by an animal welfare group, which has successfully found homes for 25 of the abandoned animals.
“During the past few weeks, we rescued 12 abandoned cats from Muscat,” Jaison Mathai, an Indian expat, who founded the animal welfare group Tiger by the Tail, said.
“Expatriates who are leaving Oman due to poor economic conditions are simply abandoning cats and dogs. They don’t want to spend money to take their pets with them. The number of abandoned cats and dogs are going up and posing a challenge to us,” Mathai added.
Mathai and his group work to sterilise stray animals, rescue those that are sick, injured or abandoned and find new homes for those they have rescued.
“Some animals in shelters are saved from the streets and cruelty, while some are given up by their families. Countless others never make it to shelters and suffer without someone to care for them. Spaying or neutering pets prevents animals from being born accidentally, and is the most effective and humane way to save animals’ lives,” Mathai added.
According to Mathai, finding a perfect home for these animals is a major issue.
“Many people enjoy owning pets, but do not know about the responsibilities that come with owning them.”
Asked why the group is not that much involved in rescuing dogs, Mathai said that majority of the residential apartments in Oman have a “no pet policy.”
“Cats will be silent and no expensive arrangements have to be made to take care of it. But for dogs, it is not that easy. Finding a shelter for a dog is quite hard. So we focus more on rescuing cats. There are good Omani families, who can afford to take care of half a dozen cats too.”
Nivya Carasto, Bindu Mohite, Nassara Ali, Namrata Balbir and Siami Zohra are the other active members of Tiger by the Tail.