Under the patronage of Mr. Prof. Dr. Sherif Khater, President of Mansoura University, and Mr. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Azim, Vice President of the University for Community Service, Environmental Development and Leadership Affairs, Ms. Prof. Dr. Maha Abdel Ashmawy, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University, and under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Mohamed Gabr, Vice President of the College for Community Service Affairs. On Sunday, December 24, 2023, the College of Veterinary Medicine (Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs Sector) organized a workshop entitled “Stray dogs in Dakahlia and Damietta governorates between the dilemma and the solution under the Animal Protection Law.”
The workshop was in the presence of :
- Dr. Khaled Selim - General Syndicate of Veterinarians in the Arab Republic of Egypt
And Dr. Sayed Al-Hassanin Al-Metwally - Undersecretary of the Ministry and Director of the Directorate of Veterinary Medicine in Dakahlia
- Dr. Emad Hamdi Attia, Deputy Director of Veterinary Medicine in Damietta
- Professor Dr. Saleh Shafiq - Director of the Animal Health Research Institute
- Professor Dr. Mohamed Mesbah Al-Sayed - Technical Director of the Animal Health Research Institute
- Dr. Imad Suleiman Al-Najjar, Director General of Environment in Dakahlia Governorate
- Dr. Ahmed Ali Salama, Director of the Department of Common Diseases in Damietta
- And representatives of the Veterinarians Syndicate in Dakahlia and pet clinics, as well as representatives of civil society, an elite group of faculty members and their assistants at the college, and an elite group of veterinarians in all business sectors.
During his speech, Mr. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Azim, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development, stressed the importance of developing a clear strategy to combat stray dogs, provided that it is in accordance with global controls, as well as developing a plan to implement this strategy. His Excellency also stressed the cooperation of Mansoura University with the relevant authorities for the judiciary on this phenomenon.
Professor Dr. Maha Abdo Al-Ashmawy - Dean of the College also confirmed in her speech that the problem of stray dogs indirectly affects the national economy due to the import of serums and vaccines, which cost the state and affect its economy, although the solution must occur from the source by solving the problem from its roots and that built solutions Scientific research is the basis on which the college contributes to solving this problem.

Professor Dr. Muhammad Jabr, the college’s vice dean for community service and environmental development, also spoke about the danger of stray dogs in transmitting diseases common to humans and animals, the most important of which is rabies. He therefore stressed the importance of ensuring a strategy to eliminate this phenomenon in the governorates of Dakahlia and Damietta.

Dr. Hazem Ramadan, Professor of Common Diseases at the College, gave a lecture on rabies entitled “Combat Rabies: A Comprehensive Strategy for the “One Health” Approach, in which he explained the danger of rabies to both humans and animals and the role of stray dogs in the spread of the disease. He pointed out the importance of dealing with Disease from a One Health Perspective (ONE HEALTH), which is a strategy adopted by Egypt in cooperation with the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Organization for Animal Health. This strategy aims to put an end to human deaths resulting from rabies by the year 2030.
The second part of the symposium dealt with the legislative confrontation, which was addressed by Prof. Dr. Ahmed Lotfy Al-Sayed, Professor and Head of the Criminal Law Department at the Faculty of Law, who reviewed in detail the legal aspects contained in Law No. 29 of 2023 regulating the possession of dangerous animals and dogs, which entered into force. It came into force last May, which reveals the attention of state agencies to combat this phenomenon, and to adopt sufficient measures and the harshest penalties to confront it.

The legislator was concerned with defining some of the concepts associated with this law, such as defining what is meant by a dangerous animal, the owner of the animal, handling, propagation and reproduction, a stray or abandoned dog, a dog handler, and clarifying the competent authority in the texts of this law.