The Path to Humanity was invited today to the rabies awareness conference. The conference was deliberately held on September 25, 2024, to honor Louis Pasteur on the anniversary of his death.
The conference took place in El Tor, the capital of South Sinai. Our CEO, Yasmine Hémès, was invited by Dr. Rehab, a government representative from the South Sinai Veterinary Chamber.
Other government representatives from the medical and veterinary chambers, as well as the mayor of South Sinai, were also invited guests.
Although Egypt has very few cases of rabies, the discussion focused on the dangers, treatment, and protection against rabies.
Yasmine: “It was a great honor for us as The Path to Humanity to participate in this conference and present our organization and its goals, especially since we automatically vaccinate the animals against rabies with every spay/neuter.
Dr. Albert Gabra, one of the best veterinarians in Sharm El Sheikh, and a friend I deeply appreciate, offered to take me in his car. El Tor, the capital of South Sinai, is about 100 km away from Sharm El Sheikh.
We were warmly welcomed. The conference was, of course, conducted in Arabic. But Dr. Albert was kind enough to translate much for me into English and later translated my speech into Arabic.
When the conference was over, Dr. Albert and I had the opportunity to have a private conversation with Dr. Rehab. She is such a lovely person, and we took an instant liking to each other. She herself offered to participate in one of our upcoming major campaigns. In the future, we will work more closely together. This day couldn’t have gone better.”
Here are the key points from our presentation:
Now a few words about the organization “The Path to Humanity,” and you will see how closely our actions are connected to today’s topic of “rabies.”
As a legal organization established under Luxembourg law in September 2023, we work in both animal and environmental protection.
Since then, we have been able to spay/neuter and vaccinate 183 dogs and 40 cats. With every spay/neuter, the vaccination against rabies is also administered automatically.
Our 4th Clean Up will take place on October 3rd. So far, we have been able to collect about 400 kg of waste and hundreds of fishing lines from the Red Sea, with the support of Ras Mohamed National Park, CDWS, SSI, and around 30 volunteers participating in the clean-ups. According to a WWF study, there are already 86 million tons of waste on the seabed, the largest garbage dump in the world.
But back to the topic of stray animals…
Our activities in Sharm El Sheikh in this regard are:
*Large-scale spay/neuter and vaccination projects (50 dogs or cats per project). We work in regions. In Nabaq, nearly all dogs have been spayed/neutered. Currently, we are operating in Ruwaysat, where we have already spayed/neutered and vaccinated 100 dogs. We still have some work to do in Ruwaysat, as unfortunately, the dogs that cause disturbances in other areas are being deported to Ruwaysat.
*The second activity is creating feeding and drinking stations for dogs and cats throughout Sharm El Sheikh. These feeding stations are meant to be self-sustaining. We have put up a trial sign in Naama Bay (for cats), and the people living there—and even tourists—are feeding the animals. The dogs and cats no longer have to rummage through garbage to find food. Tourists love the image of the “good treatment” of the animals, and ultimately, the torn plastic bags searching for food will not end up in our seas. With this project, we achieve three goals at once:
1. The animals themselves
2. Tourism
3. Environment
As you have heard, with every spay/neuter, the animal is vaccinated against rabies.
Let us work together to create a livable place for the animals and, at the same time, make Sharm El Sheikh, as Dr. Albert beautifully put it, a stress-free place.
