Since the outbreak of the "Iron Swords" war last month, masses of residents have been evacuated from their homes in the Gaza envelope and in the south of the country to various hotels throughout the country – but not all of them have been allowed to bring their pets with them. In response, this week the Forum of Animal Protection Lawyers in Israel wrote to the ministers of finance, tourism, agriculture and labor, demanding that they deal with the issue urgently.
"Unfortunately, it turns out that one significant and vital aspect of the issue of rehabilitation of evacuees does not receive a minimal response, and in fact is completely absent – the treatment of injuries caused in connection with the pets of the evacuees," the letter to ministers said last Sunday. "It turns out that some of the hotels and accommodations that the state has made available to the evacuees refuse to allow them to bring their vacated pets with them to the property." In doing so, they say, pets are cut off from their owners – whom they need.
"Appeals by the directors general of the Ministries of Agriculture and Tourism to the Hotel Association requesting their intervention and handling of the distorted correction unfortunately did not lead to a solution, and as of this writing there are still hotel chains that refuse to allow evacuees to bring their pets into their territory, forcing them to find a separate arrangement for pets in foster care or pensions," they added. "This is an intolerable situation – the refusal of pets leads to the de facto separation of family members who have undergone an inferno, and leads to cases of abandonment of animals. The strong bond between the families of the evacuees, especially the children, and their pets is essential for their rehabilitation and encouragement. They support and comfort each other, and sometimes they are all that remains after the loss and bereavement. Forcing evacuees to say goodbye to their pets, even temporarily, causes untold grief and anguish that worsens their already precarious mental state and the severe trauma they have experienced."
Dog rescued from a house in Kibbutz Be'eri // Photo: "For Wildlife Association"
Beyond harming the evacuees, the forum notes that the act constitutes real harm to the pets as well, and that the refusal is actually a violation of the Animal Welfare Law. Forum members also called for the recognition of pets as animals that provide emotional support to evacuees, and therefore the law established for guide dogs applies to them, according to which "guide dogs and service dogs that provide emotional support to people with disabilities may not be prevented from entering public places... The same law should apply in this case, where the evacuees depend on their pets, mentally and emotionally."
The forum, led by its chairmen, attorneys Ehud Peleg and Lior Harish, even called on the state to recognize people who lost their pets to Hamas terrorists as entitled to compensation from the National Insurance Institute and to cover expenses for various treatments for pets, due to the trauma that affected them emotionally. "It is absurd that the state compensates victims of hostilities for the loss of an electrical device or furniture, but ignores the loss of a pet that is, as stated, in practice a family member," they added.
In concluding the letter, Forum members called to correct the various deficiencies that have emerged in the new and difficult reality in which Israel finds itself today. "Today more than ever, it is worth remembering the important message that 'the greatness of a nation and its moral progress are tested by its treatment of animals,'" they wrote.
Evacuees from the Gaza envelope who were transferred to a hotel in Eilat (the subjects and the place have no connection to the report), photo: AFP.
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