Italian tourists fleeing Dubai abandon their dogs.

In other cases they do even worse: they turn to specialized clinics to have them die by euthanasia.

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Easter Eggs8

Panic about war, when you're in a hot zone, is more than understandable. And unfortunately, the devastating side effects are multiplying, as is happening with the great exodus of Italian tourists from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Those who lived with a dog or cat are struggling to find suitable solutions for bringing them along. There are cost and transportation issues, flights departing intermittently, and often last-minute decisions have to be made, without the time to care for the dog as well.

The result is that many animals are being abandoned on the streets, in the desert, and in empty homes these weeks. And in some cases, the situation is even worse: pet owners turn to local clinics, which also specialize in euthanasia. And so, among the victims of this unfortunate situation, there are also dogs and cats.

Claire Hopkins, a British volunteer involved in relief efforts in the United Arab Emirates, testifies to the panic that is engulfing the community: "Every day we see increasing fear among pet owners. Many want to return the animals they had adopted, while the shelters are now saturatedThe situation is made even more dramatic by the conditions in which some animals are found: cats left in boxes in front of doors with notes of apology and dogs tied to lampposts without water or food.

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