ISLAMABAD (Zubair Kasuri): Islamabad hosts more than 80 diplomatic missions, including 43 embassies and high commissions located in the highly secure Diplomatic Enclave. The area also houses offices of several United Nations agencies. Amid this centre of global diplomacy, foreign diplomats and their families are quietly working to protect and care for stray animals.
Diplomats and local volunteers associated with Islamabad People Actively Working for Strays (PAWS) have established an organised network to provide food, medical treatment and vaccinations to stray dogs. Whenever an injured or sick animal is spotted, its photograph and location are shared in a WhatsApp group, enabling volunteers to arrange immediate treatment and transportation to a veterinary clinic.
Ms Saima, a representative of Islamabad PAWS, said volunteers receive no government funding or donations and cover the animals’ feeding, vaccination and medical expenses from their own pockets.
“When these helpless animals had no one, we adopted them,” she said. “This is not a temporary activity. We have been caring for them consistently for several years.”
