Woman hospitalized after coming in contact with poison used to kill stray animals

Resident of Sheikh Zayed city Sanaa Alaa was hospitalized on Thursday after allegedly being poisoned with Strychnine, a deadly poison used by authorities to kill stray animals in Egypt, animal rights activist Dina Zulfikar told Mada Masr on Friday.

Alaa, who lives in a compound in Sheikh Zayed, was walking close to her home when she found chicken bones with a blue substance on them on the ground. Recognizing that this could be poisoned food, she removed it before any stray animals could eat it. Immediately afterwards, Alaa started to experience notable poisoning symptoms, including severe muscle spasms and difficulty breathing.

“There were severe convulsions in her hands and she immediately went to the clinic inside the compound, where she was advised to go to hospital. We called our lawyer who advised her to file a complaint at a police station. There, she completely collapsed and we had to transfer her to the National Center for Environmental and Clinical Toxicology where she was sent to ICU,” Zulfikar said, adding that Alaa’s condition is now stable.

According to the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Strychnine is “rapidly absorbed after ingestion, inhalation, or intravenous administration” and can cause cause a number of physical symptoms which, if not quickly treated, can lead to death.

Animal rights activists in Egypt have warned of the dangers of using Strychnine to kill stray animals due to its high toxicity for both animals and humans. The Health Ministry’s General Authority for Veterinary Services (GAVS) has been repeatedly criticized for using Strychnine to kill stray animals in Egypt.

Hassan al-Gaaweny, head of the Central Administration of Veterinary Inspection at GAVS, told press in February that Strychnine is the most economic technique to control the spread of rabies, seeing as there are now around 10-15 million dogs stray in Egypt. He added that the authority imported Strychnine worth almost LE1 million this year. “Animal rights activists cause problems every now and then,” he said.

In 2014, a campaign by the New Cairo Veterinary Directorate to kill stray animals allegedly infected with rabies led to the death of tens of stray animals in Rehab City. A similar incident took place inside Al-Ahly Club, where a number of cats were also killed using Strychnine. ِAnother campaign, this time inside Cairo University, drummed up wide criticism against university president Gaber Nassar, who had defended the practice.

Zulfikar said that using Strychnine is a routine practice in Egypt and leads to the inhumane culling of animals, as well as poisoning humans. She considers it an unsafe method for controlling the spread of rabies in Egypt.

“Garbage collectors and people who work in garbage recycling are the groups mostly vulnerable to coming into contact with Strychnine,” she said. “The problem is that people could be poisoned with Strychnine and nobody would know why they were experiencing these symptoms.”

A joint report by World Health Organization (WHO) and World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) recommended animal vaccination campaigns as the most effective way to combat the spread of rabies. Another report issued by World Animal Protection International said that culling animals by using Strychnine does not end the spread of rabies.

A number of lawyers and animal rights activists have filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court to stop the use of Strychnine for the killing of street animals. A ruling is expected to be issued on June 6.