Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Arabic and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Thoughtful viewers, we invite you to travel with us today to Dubai of the United Arab Emirates to visit the Dubai Animal Rescue Centre, an animal sanctuary founded by the compassionate Ayesha Kelaif.

To me a dog, or a cat, or any pet is like a human. They need the basics that we need: food, water, shelter and kindness.

Ayesha Kelaif was born in Sri Lanka to a British father and Portuguese- Dutch mother. In her childhood, she frequently moved and had little opportunity to establish lasting friendships with people, but she found comfort and companionship through animals.

Actually, since I was a kid, I was always involved with animals, and I always had a passion for animals. So, it’s been in my life ever since I can remember. As an animal lover, I thought I want to do something different. That was like 11 years ago, I rescued my first cat and then as it grew, and I met a lot of nice people who work with me right now who helped me. There are a lot of volunteers, members; I have a great team who are always ready to help animals and in the daily care of running DARC.

Now living in Dubai with her husband and three children, the family’s villa in Al Barsha has become the Dubai Animal Rescue Centre, which provides a haven for a large variety of abused, injured and abandoned animals. The refuge provides specialized food, shelter and medical care to meet the needs of all of its unique rescues. The residents all live harmoniously in this oasis in the middle of Dubai.

I have around 162 animals and that’s including iguanas, alpacas, deers, gazelles, ponies, dogs and cats, owls, parrots, ferrets and rabbits and snakes and tortoise and water turtles, fish. We have around 14 ACs running 24/7 for some animals; like alpacas, they’re not suited to the UAE environment because it’s too hot for them, they come from cold climates. Then we have deer which are not suited for Dubai, we have gazelles. So each one has a different need.

Due to the lack of knowledge regarding the full responsibilities of caring for animals, many of the rescues, once beloved animal companions, were sadly abandoned to the streets to fend for themselves. The Dubai Animal Rescue Centre believes that the best remedy to solve the problem is to raise awareness in the general public on the proper concept of having an animal family member.

We are trying desperately to educate the people and the younger generation to be responsible. When you get a pet, it’s for life.

And it’s so, so important for us to get that message across in the hope that these types of animals that we’ve got at the moment are not bought more and more and more, or they’re bred for profit and so forth.

The Dubai Animal Rescue Centre hosts a number of activities to foster greater respect for animals with fellow Emiratis. One such program is through a collaboration with the government and schools, wherein schoolchildren are provided with the opportunity for close contact with the animals and learn about caring for them.

The interaction with the animals, you just learn so much from watching animals and it’s peaceful; and I just like to be part of that. I do help out with when the schoolchildren come over and trying to re-educate the children. How to actually look after an animal; if they’re going to take on a pet, if it’s going to be a cat, a dog, a guinea pig, rabbit, they have to know how long it’s going to live for, the care that you’ve got to give, and you have to have money for the vet fees and what kind of food is best suited for that animal.

After we show them that these animals are harmless, and if you love and respect them, they will treat children the same way, with love and respect. So, it’s nice at the end of the day to see children who are scared of animals have the feeling of love and want to learn more about them.

Through the generous assistance of the Nad Al Shiba Veterinary Clinic, Al Safa Vets, and other local veterinarians, Ayesha receives professional help for her rescued animals. Dubai Animal Rescue Center also works hand in hand with organizations such as the Abu Dhabi Wildlife and Sharjah Wildlife to improve the welfare of exotic wildlife in the United Arab Emirates.

The goal of one project is to breed owls, to release them into the wild, to increase the natural population of the owls in the wild, in the UAE habitat. There are 6 owls for breeding, including the program with Sharjah. Now, thank God! We’ve released 14 small owls back into the wild. We’re very proud of this.

Most of the animals were at the brink of death when they were rescued, and through dedication, tender care and compassion by Ayesha and her group, they have recovered to their original, graceful and beautiful selves. The animals have shown their depth of love and forgiveness through their new, trusting bonds with the staff and volunteers at the Dubai Animal Rescue Centre.

A friend of mine is married to a local guy and on Eid and in Ramadan, they go around to the neighbors’ houses, and they bring a goat as a present. And she was up for the dinner plate, and she was six months old at that stage, and she took pity on the goat, and she goes, “No way is this goat going to be on the dinner plate.” So she had her for six months as a pet and how Marigold ended up coming here was because she felt so sorry for her being out in the garden in this heat, and she wanted her to have a better life.

This is my great friend and buddy, Caesar. Caesar is a German Shepherd dog, and he’s about two and a half years old. He’s been here with us for, I think he came when he was about 11 months old. He came to us because he was in danger of being put to sleep because he has very bad hips; it’s quite normal in German Shepherds today.

Very many of them are like it and his family didn’t want to keep him because of it. I’ve been working and training with him ever since, and he’s just my greatest friend in the world.

This is Shanti, our rescue dog. He was found on a farm in Dubai, and he was tied to the gates of the farm, and this is what he looked like when we did find him. He was skin and bones, and he was only weighing 17 kilograms, and he was covered in ticks as well. He spent three weeks in the vet’s and having lots of injections and tests which had to be sent abroad, blood tests, and into the bone marrow and things like that.

And he’s such a healthy, happy-go-lucky boy now, and he’s weighing 27 kilograms with all the love that he’s had from everybody. We want him to be with a loving family and children and everything else because he absolutely adores children as well, because my little 4-year-old boy, they play lovely together.

Their way in showing gratitude, it differs from one to another. The dog, for example, runs to you and starts licking, showing affection for your care for him. Cats have their special ways. Alpacas, especially the little alpaca, Valentino, he comes up and nibbles your ears and just licks you. He is very pretty. Deer, they’re wild animals; they won’t come to lick you like dogs or cats but when you approach them, they won’t run away. And that’s nice. This means they trust you and don’t fear you.

Ayesha envisions expanding the Dubai Animal Rescue Centre to be able to house more animals. She hopes to build a network with more organizations in other areas to provide broader coverage for the rescue work. The unconditional love and gratitude from the animals are what motivates all those at the shelter to continue tirelessly in their noble mission.

I always say to my friends, or my family, “I want two wishes in my life. One wish is to wish for the children’s peace. And my second wish would be for my animals, all the animals in the world to be in peace and never be slaughtered. I think animals are very forgiving. You just show a little bit of love, and it comes wagging its tail and it licks you, and I think their love is so genuine, I don’t think you can buy that love from anywhere.

They understand, they know kindness, they appreciate it. You can tell how grateful they are. They are really grateful for a little. They only ask very little; a little food, a shelter and a place to stay. And yes, they do have a lot of gratitude, and they give you unconditional love. And that’s what keeps me going on; every day seeing these animals’ faces, how bright!

And there are so many kind people in the UAE, we all can join together and help much more animals.

I just love animals. I watched many documentaries of how the animals are treated, their conditions in slaughter. There are many reasons to become a vegetarian, but the simplest reason is love. Animals have the capacity to forgive what we have done, and that's beautiful. Animals, glory to God, we must be grateful for them. They are a gift from God. Thank God for everything. The animals trust and love us. So, thank God!

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We thank Ayesha and all the staff and volunteers of the Dubai Rescue Centre for your noble hearts and loving kindness for the animals. Let us regard all fellow inhabitants as Allah’s invaluable creations through our compassionate and gentle lifestyles.

For more details on the Dubai Animal Rescue Centre, please visit

Benevolent viewers, we enjoyed your company for today’s program. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment after Noteworthy News. May all beings co-exist in peace and the grace of the Divine.