CAIRO: An Egyptian animal rights group has complained to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif about stray dogs being shot in tourist areas, a newspaper reported on Friday.
The complaint filed by the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends blamed Aswan Governor Mostafa El-Sayed for the shootings of 4,652 stray dogs in just two months, calling it brutal and inhumane.
Al-Masry Al-Youm daily quoted Ahmed El-Sharbini, who heads the society, as saying the practice threatened tourism.
President Hosni Mubarak ordered an investigation last year after local press reported a campaign to exterminate stray dogs and cats in tourist areas.
The killings also outraged international animal welfare groups. French film star turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot in May 2007 begged Mubarak to stop the cruel killings.
Local media reported this summer that a dog owned by the US ambassador to Egypt, Margaret Scobey, was among the casualties, after it ate poison intended for stray cats. The American embassy refused to comment on the incident.
Although traditionally considered impure under Islamic law, dogs were highly regarded in Ancient Egypt and sometimes mummified. -AFP
