This week Move One’s Luanna and her family visited the Dubai Animal Rescue Centre (DARC), to find out more about this interesting project and to see how Move One’s Pet Transportation division can better provide support in future. DARC is a Dubai based sanctuary dedicated to the rescue, treatment, care and welfare of lost, abandoned and injured animals. Including exotics, birds, tortoises, equine, rodents and more. This sanctuary is a family-run initiative whereby every Dirham earned is spent on feeding, transporting, healing, training and maintenance of the animals in DARC’s care – all of which is located in a standard family villa in the heart of Al Barsha 1.

As we arrived a lady was leaving with a cute little pug dog that she had adopted after it had been rescued a few weeks earlier. I entered the main gate with three of my children and we could see turtles, rabbits and a few cats. As we went in to the house to escape the heat we were suddenly surrounded by dogs, cats and birds that were saying hello as they flew over our heads. There were a lot of animals and the children were a little nervous at first and I was actually petrified of the huge, though assured, friendly Rottweiler.

Ayesha Kelaif, the lady who has built this centre for the animals in her house, is one of the kindest ladies you could ever hope to meet. As she told us some of the situations she is faced with I was simply dumb founded – how can people treat animals so badly and why are some of these animals kept as pets? My children were desperate to go and look around the garden after seeing so many amazing pictures on the DARC website.

As we walked around the corner where I guess in a normal house a car may be parked, I was presented with rabbits, turkeys, chickens, hens, a half rabbit half kangaroo (I had never seen one of these before in my life), cats, kittens, turtles, guinea pigs, meer cats, three goats, a lama (I think), dogs, iguana, snakes and, wait for it, a monkey (found in Jumeirah!) – oh and a Shetland pony! Now my children and I are amazed and quite honestly, gob smacked. Who pays for the vets bills, food, water, bedding, housing etc?

In order to help even more animals DARC has embarked on obtaining bigger premises by seeking the government’s help. Ayesha has been rescuing animals from abuse, neglect and abandonment for the past 10 years. Her villa in Al Barsha caters to a wide variety of both small and large animals, totaling approximately 160; all of which are housed in specially built accommodation to suit their specific requirements. The limited space in her villa however has been a hindrance to taking in the many more animals that need shelter.

Ayesha, with the help of volunteers aims to open a suitably sized rescue center within Dubai as soon as possible that can accommodate the growing number of animals that desperately need a home. The newest DARC will include a library and a special children’s education section that will cater to schools and will aim to educate children on the importance and responsibility of having a pet. The development plans will also allow for the possibility of offering visits to schools, summer camps and summer jobs.

This was just a short visit due to the heat but Move One will certainly be back to visit the animals again and offer their support. If you too would like to show your support for DARC, please visit their website for details.

Dubai Animal Rescue Centre (DARC)

Tel: +971 50 858 7844
Email: info@darcuae.org
Web: darcuae.org
Facebook: facebook.com/darcuae
Twitter: twitter.com/DARCUAE
YouTube: youtube.com/DARCentre

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