Amy’s Journal

I’m not sure if I ever mentioned it, but there are a lot of stray cats in Beirut. In our neighborhood, they seem to be mostly orange tabbies, but you see them in all colors, really. The ones around here are quite feral, and everyone seems to ignore them completely.

If you walk over to AUB campus, you will find yourself in stray cat heaven. I have no idea why the ones on Yamout St and around don’t go over there. The cats are living in a lush, semi-tropical paradise where there are no cars and they are actually fed cat food. A lot of these cats are semi-tame and are far less scraggly looking than their counterparts just a few blocks away. Apparently, the situation improved dramatically after instituting a program to limit the escalating population in addition to feeding them. The cats are being vaccinated, fed, and females are being spayed.

Over here in Hamra, the cats are not spayed, and cat breeding season is upon us. The evenings lately are punctuated with that horrible cat-in-heat yowling. When we moved here last May, there were kittens everywhere, and they have since grown up (or been hit by cars). I saw one of the first batches this year a few evenings ago, and I know that many more are on the way.

Speaking of pets, pet birds seem to be most popular. Canaries and finches and those sorts of little birds are very common, but I’ve seen quite a few cockatiels as well as the odd parrot. Some people also keep pigeons on the roof, which are let out to fly around near dusk, exactly as in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The other day I realized that one of my pigeon-keeping neighbors has a white duck on the roof, too. This is not a dog culture, though it’s much more common to see a little spaniel or terrier out for a walk (generally with the maid) here than in most cities in the Middle East.

There is actually a fairly progressive Animal Rescue type organization here called BETA. Their site includes baboon rescue, and yes, I have seen a baboon for sale in a pet store here. There is one not too far from here living in a tiny cage she can barely stand up in.