In August of this year, Four Paws, a Vienna-based animal welfare non-profit, lead a dangerous mission into a zoo directly outside of the Gaza Strip where they rescued 15 animals from the worst conditions they had ever seen.
In 2007 the Palestinian businessman, Abu Diab Oweida, and his three sons opened the Khan Younis Zoo outside of an amusement park not far from the raging battles that ensued on the Gaza Strip.
During the seven-week war between Israel and Hamas in 2014, hundreds of the animals were starved to death, and not due to the inability to reach the animals to care for them. Oweida admitted that the mummification of these animals, and many before, was a political statement. Oweida told National Geographic that it was done:
“To prove to the whole world that even animals have been affected and [killed] by the Israeli occupation after the three [recent] wars in the Gaza Strip.”
The end of the seven-week war began the horrific period where the remaining animals began sharing cages and enclosures with the dead, including leaving the last tiger in Gaza, Laziz sharing a cage with his dead mate.
The rescue mission became a reality starting in April when Amir Khalil, the Director of Emergency Response for Four Paws, visited the zoo and began negotiations with Oweida and his three sons.
To get the animals to a safe location, Four Paws would first take over complete care of the animals inside of the zoo, pay for all costs including employee salaries, and lastly have written assurance that once the zoo was closed, Oweida would never again work with animals.
Beyond dealing with the business owner, this rescue mission was incredibly complex on a political level where Four Paws had to work with three separate groups, Israel, Jordan, and Palestinian governments of Hamas and Fatah. Khalil commented on the uneasy task of negotiations between countries stating:
“[The rescue] was not easy. To be neutral is not easy. I think Four Paws was a form of mediator between three, four countries.”
In the end, by August 25th, Khalil, and fourteen other rescuers were able to remove the animals from the zoo and take them to their new homes to be rehabilitated and live their life in comfort. Four Paws received praise from animal rights and rescue groups all over the world including Alan Knight, Chief Executive of the U.K.-based International Animal Rescue, who said:
“We are of course delighted that this terrible zoo has finally been closed and the surviving animals have been saved, thanks to Four Paws. The success of the rescue operation proves that … extraordinary things can be achieved with passion and determination. Suffering animals should not be forgotten or overlooked, even in the midst of human conflicts or natural or man-made disasters.”
Words we hope aren’t forgotten.
This video shows the conditions of the zoo in 2012 before the rescue ever began.
Featured Image Via The Dodo
