Meet our current feature shelter: BETA Lebanon (not affiliated with USA's PETA). BETA stands for "Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." BETA is one of the only animal welfare organization in Lebanon, started by a few courageous young women. In a country where animals are not viewed with compassion, where strife and instability are the norm, BETA struggles against the current of indifference and violence to better the lives of animals.

In the summer of 2006, the country's month long war with Israel brought the suffering of animals in war zones to the attention of many. Bomb damage made BETA's shelters uninhabitable, forcing the relocation of its animals to a site donated by a pig farmer. Best Friends organized an air lift of 300 dogs and cats from Beirut to Kanab, Utah, and found homes for all of them.

Little Lotus Hearts interviewed BETA co-founder Joelle El-Massih.

Q: How did BETA start?

BETA Lebanon started by chance. Lebanon has thousands of abandoned, abused and stray dogs and cats. A few kind people take pity on their plight and feed them. These compassionate people are frowned on by the vast majority and in many cases openly cursed. A few girls who were feeding them and caring for them, independently of each other, happened by chance to meet one day whilst doing so. In each other they at last found the solace that their individual actions merited and decided to get together, at first informally in 2004, and then by formally registering as an official Charity in 2006.

Q: What are some of your special programs or missions?  

BETA Lebanon is an animal welfare organization and a no kill shelter, plus we are actively involved in so many other ventures.

We were recently launched a partnership with Oumnia, a non-profit that helps sick children. Oumnia and BETA are working together with ill and handicapped kids. This is a first in Lebanon and sort of a shocker for people and parents involved and seeing the amazing results in the kids. This program is looking very positive for the kids.

BETA is also a member of the WSPA U.K. and we are working with WSPA to try and implement new laws in Lebanon concerning animal welfare, the closure of illegal pet shops and controlling the illegal trade in wildlife.

We have started providing lectures to groups such as ‘The British Ladies of Lebanon’ and ‘The Lions Club’ concerning Animal abuse etc. and are also spreading this message through schools to catch the next generation at an early age. Connected to this, some students ran for BETA in the Beirut Marathon at the end of November and many others were on our official “Get to Know Beta” stand at the event.

We also rescue exotic species such as Baboons and Chimpanzees, which are imported into Lebanon illegally and sold here for thousands of dollars only to pose as entertainment, confined to a cage their whole lives, and will shortly be trapping foxes in South Lebanon as these came down from the mountains during the 2006 war with Israel and never returned. Unfortunately they will again ravage the historic nesting grounds of the green and loggerhead turtles in spring /summer 2009 if they are not re-homed in a nature reserve in the Chouf mountains.

Q: What is a typical day like for you or your employees and volunteers?

Currently our typical day is focused around the necessities of our dog shelter as we have over 200 souls to care for. In addition we have every week rescues, adoptions, sicknesses and associated problems to take care of. We literally ‘run’ from early morning to late night and are not helped by the traffic chaos and incessant delays in getting from place to place. There are 4 active members in BETA that do the daily tasks apart from our daily jobs. Our volunteers are all university students or have jobs and so they are not very flexible but they have dedicated their extra time to BETA and help out in many ways.

Q: What are local attitudes towards animals? Give us a sense of what it's like for the animals in your community.

Lebanon is a place where various religions and sects live together, but the people do not unite into one homogeneous community and are in constant friction with each other. There is no common bond of union and all levels of society are in constant turmoil and conflict. No other country in the world has such a multiplicity of antagonistic races and with this general background it is not surprising that their pent up hatreds are meted out on innocent animals, which are unable to retaliate.

Q: What are the biggest problems you face when helping animals in your community?

Religious intolerance due to bad education at grass roots level. Animals are not considered as sentient beings but as an object of abuse and hatred. It is permitted by most parents to abuse animals and actually seen as amusement.

Also, dog fighting is a huge problem and in a corrupt country like ours, even thinking of trying to stop them from continuing this cruel and evil game will cause us and our animals harm. We have been threatened before when assuming to go to the cops, when we quickly found out that so many of the cops are also involved. We hope and pray that someday this will change and someone will listen to our pleas to help these victims of such wickedness.

The authorities here are no help to this problem, Lebanon only has one animal welfare law and basically it states that if a person abuses an animal for no particular reason then they have to pay a fine of 10.000 Lebanese pounds, which is equivalent to seven US dollars.

Another major problem we face is publicity. When we go on TV or do an ad, people immediately call us and ask us to take their pet because they no longer wan the animals at home or tell us that they have found a dog or cat on the street and are bothered by them--instead of calling to help, donate, or most importantly adopt.

Local adoptions are one of our biggest challenges because Lebanese people buy animals to ‘show off’ and the more expensive the dog or cat is the ‘cooler’ the person is. Many of the people who do buy dogs or cats, once they realize the amount of responsibility and vet bills involved, they immediately back out and abandon the animal by selling him/her to a pet shop or simply abandoning him/her on the street. Also, many people here breed their pets because they see them as dollar signs and not as living souls. BETA encourages spaying/neutering. All our dogs and cats are sterilized before being adopted and we focus a lot on this matter. In every one of our presentations or simple talks with people, spaying/neutering is our main subject.

Q: Please share a heartwarming story about a special animal or a situation that you turned around, or a victory for animals in general in your community.

We’ve had many heartwarming stories but the one that was most special is Pooch. He is a blue/tan Terrier. He was found by a BETA member hiding under a car. He was afraid, tired and nothing but skin and bones. After being able to catch him, we quickly realized that he was not able to use his back legs. We took him home, gave him lots of good food and water and a warm bed to sleep in. In the morning we visited the vet and after some x-rays and tests, it was concluded that Pooch had been on the street for about 2 weeks, sustained an injured to his spinal cord, unknown how, probably hit by a bicycle or scooter. The whole time, he was crawling on the grund, searching for food, and causing lesions that were badly infected to his back legs.

We decided to build Pooch a wheelchair to help him rebuild his self-confidence. He was in pretty bad shape and not very sociable. We all fell in love with him and were determined to help him walk again. We gave him daily injections of antibiotics and painkillers for 2 weeks. We bathed him in warm water and massaged his legs; it was a sort of a physiotherapy for him. We gave him lots of love and affection. After 2 months of only being able to walk with a wheelchair, Pooch decided to up and walk one day without it! It was a glorious and very emotional day for us. Looking at him, trying to lift his legs and regaining the use of them was a feeling of joy and great satisfaction! Even Pooch himself was smiling and happy to be alive and walking again!!

Then there’s Tom the Baboon. Tom had been confined to a cage for almost 7 years. One day the owner decided to move Tom’s cage away from his store and leave him behind a garbage bin. He was left there with no food or water, simply to die. BETA found out about Tom and rented a huge truck, gathered some volunteers and took Tom to safer place. We put him at a friend’s house that was abandoned. Every day a member of BETA would bring Tom lots of fruits and vegetables. We cared for Tom for 4 months till finally we raised enough funds to have him flown to a sanctuary in the South of Wales where he is living very happily with his other BETA rescue Baboon and the love of his life, Lola.

You can read more about Tom and Lola by visiting their pages on the Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary website, where they now live.

Q: Tell us about the 2006 transport of BETA dogs and cats from Lebanon to Best Friends.

During the war in 2006, many animals were displaced and openly abandoned and thrown into the streets. When the international evacuations took place, no one was allowed to take their pet with them on the vessels. People fleeing South Lebanon from the Israeli invasion had to leave their animals behind. In this period we broke into pet shops and private zoos to feed, water and eventually rescue abandoned animals. Our shelter was severely damaged by bombs and we were forced to relocate all of our dogs.

We received tremendous help from Best Friends in Utah. They air lifted 300 dogs and cats from Lebanon to Best Friends in Kanab, Utah and found homes for them all.

Q: How can international volunteers or friends of animals help BETA?

International adoptions are one way to help Beta's animals. We arrange international adoptions in the USA, Canada, Germany and  Holland and we have friends in each country who perform pre-adoption home checks. The adopting families meet us on arrival at the local airports. All these animals have special disabilities ( e.g. 3 legged, blind, epileptic) and, as such, have no chance of finding a loving home here in Lebanon.

For USA adoptions, whomever wishes to adopt one of our dogs or cats, they simply have to fill out our adoption form on-line and after 5 or 6 of them have been asked to be adopted in the US, we fundraise for the ticket and expenses, our local adoption fee is 50$ for dogs and 30$ for cats but when the animals have to travel we ask the adopters to pay for their ticket which is normally 200$ for dogs and 100$ for cats. One of the BETA members escorts the dogs/cats to the US for home checks.

BETA has ample space to accommodate volunteers who may wish to spend their vacations in Lebanon. Many volunteers who have come to Lebanon to help out have stayed in our homes and have been of great help at the shelter and giving advice. Visiting veterinarians are especially helpful to us, but all volunteers are most welcome.

People could also spread the word about Beta by adding our link to their website or linking to us on Facebook.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share with Little Lotus Hearts?

The most recent event in the Middle East to impact Animals was the Conference in Cairo organized by WSPA regarding livestock. In Lebanon, the slaughter houses are inhumane and horrifying. Almost all BETA members are vegetarians and many of our friends and volunteers are turning vegetarian after we show them footage of what it is they are eating and how badly treated they are. We hope that someday this will also change and new laws will be implemented for the conditions of the slaughter houses.

We are working closely with WSPA and looking forward to their visit to Lebanon in 2009 after the re-elections. We are hoping for a change in the animal welfare law and organizing a huge spaying/neutering project with the help of the government. The government here simply poisons and shoots dogs to lower the stray population. We are hoping with the proper education and workshops, this will change and the spaying/neutering project for all of Lebanon will start in 2009.

Q: What is the best way for people to donate to Beta Lebanon?

During the 2006 war, we received many donations which helped us greatly with spay/neuter, medication, operations, vaccines, deworming. We still need and appreciate any and all help.

Donate online simply by going to http://www.betalebanon.org/donate.asp

One may sponsor a dog or cat by going to http://www.betalebanon.org/donate.asp

For those residing in the USA, you can send donations to us through Animal People as they are then USA tax deductible.  Make cheques payable to Animal People and be sure to write "Beta Lebanon" on the memo line to ensure that we receive the funds. Send to: 

Kim Bartlett, President of Animal People
P.O.Box 960
Clinton WA 98236

Thank you!