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Mau Mewsletter #2, Spring 2010
 

 Dear Mau Enthusiasts and Supporters:

Greetings, and Welcome to Spring!

We now present EMRO's Spring Report covering events that occurred at the EMRO shelter, or directly/indirectly impacted EMRO, or were brought to EMRO's attention.

1. STAFF NEWS AND UPDATES:

Our Founder
Gloria Lauris has, unfortunately, been incapacitated in recent months due to a back/leg/knee problem attributed to pinched nerves and stretched muscles. She is presently undergoing treatments which are scheduled to continue for several months. We are glad to report that there has been some improvement with this painful condition which, at present, precludes her from sitting for long periods of time or walking very far. We all wish Ms. Lauris a swift and speedy recovery.

Marriages

Congratulations to Dr. Hazim and his lovely bride on their wedding held on February 14th! Happiness and Prosperity to the happy couple!

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Welcome to our to Newest Members!
Our new daytime veterinarian and assistant to Dr. Fahmy is Dr. Dalia Abdullah Ali Mohammed, and assistant to Dr. Fahmy. She comes from the Suez Canal and had been working as a medical supply representative in Egypt prior to coming to EMRO. Please drop by to meet her next time you are in the area of the EMRO shelter.

EMRO's Animal Handlers
Our new animal handlers and assistants. From left to right - Hamido, our new Senior Worker who came from "Animal Friends"; and two new animal workers Mohammed and Ahmed in front of world map.

From left to right: Mido Mohamed Mohamed, Mohamed Saeed Mustafa, and Ahmed Shaban (since left EMRO).

Goodbye's
Farewell and Good Luck to Dr. Nancy who had to leave due to a busy schedule of her own, but she remains very supportive of EMRO. Attached are photos of Dr. Nancy proudly showing off her own animal clinic in Mokattam.

Staff Winter Party
Gloria Lauris, husband Dr. Ismail Elkholy, and son Ali were in Cairo during the December winter holiday season and held a staff dinner on the 26th consisting of roast turkey with all the trimmings. Gloria cooked the bird and the guests all chipped in with various goodies. It was a memorable and delicious repast. Amongst those invited were the various members of EMRO - Dr. Abdelrahman Sameh Fahmy; Dr. Hazim Hassan; Dr. Anthony Saad; Ms. Julie Jemenez, EMRO Administrator; Ms. Rosalind Smith, Public Relations; cat socializer Ms. Mary Ellen Seigford and daughter Yumna; and an overseas visitor from Germany, Ms. Vivianne Kraemer who came to pick up Zeezee, Zini and Liza and escort them back home. Also in attendance was Mr. Sherif Elkholy, EMRO Accountant.

Left: Gloria Lauris carving the turkey, Middle: The EMRO "Big 3" - Dr. Ismail Elkholy, Mrs. Gloria Lauris, and son Ali.

Left: Ms. Rosalind Smith, Ms. Mary Ellen Siegford and her daughter, Yumna, Ms. Gloria Lauris, and Ms. Viviane Kraemer. Right: Group photo - Friends, Family and EMRO staff.

Pharonic Village Visit
Gloria took Vivianne for a visit to the Pyramids on Sunday, December 27th, then to Dr. Ragab’s Pharaonic Village on the banks of the Nile where they spotted a very cute, red Mau kitten (Pharaoh). The kitten was surprisingly very friendly, but was observed to have big bald patches and was in need of medical care. A decision was made to rescue him and to have him taken to EMRO by Gloria’s nephew, Khaled Abdel Salam Elkholy, who was acting as driver for the day. After a tour of the Egyptian Museum and a quick look at the Al-Azhar Gardens, they were joined by Rosalind Smith who had met them at the museum. The group was also joined by Dr. Ismail who then escorted the party onto a Nile boat for a dinner cruise. The group was amply entertained by stick dancers, a Sufi, and a very well- endowed belly dancer. The food was very good, the scene was classic, and everyone had an entertaining and memorable evening.

P.S. Pharaoh was rehomed locally and renamed Bumble Moses and now shares a home with Ozzie. (See article below captioned "The Tales of Ozzie and Pharaoh".)

Left: Ms. Viviane Kramer with kitty Pharaoh. Right: Ms. Viviane Kraemer, Ms. Gloria Lauris, and Ms. Rosalind Smith on board a Nile boat in company with the Sufi Dancer.

2. VOLUNTEERS NEWS AND UPDATES

Ali Elkholy helped build and fixed broken cage structures for his school’s community service outreach program.

Left: Nashwa doing community service and socializing with EMRO Maus. Middle and Right: Cat socializer Maya with Maus Mervat and Shaddy.

Two new cat socializers, Ms.Nermin Farweez and her sister, get comfortable with the EMRO Maus.

Right: Ms. Samantha (cat socializer) with three Maus. Middle: EMRO guests with three EMRO Maus refusing to let them leave. Right: Mrs. Novotny with daughters Lara and Anna.

Other Volunteers
EMRO would like to express their heartfelt thanks to all of their volunteers around the world for their diligence, self-sacrifice, and commitment to helping EMRO to save, defend, and protect Egyptian animals. Without these very special people, EMRO would be unable to function. EMRO wishes to thank:

* Ms. Faith Kufer is sadly leaving us in June to join her husband in his new position with a Hong Kong based hotel group. She is flying via Canada to where her son will attend university in Toronto. She will then continue on to Texas to see family and friends as well as to visit Shadow, the black cat she rescued and personally shipped to her new home in Dallas, where she is fitting in very well. Ms. Kufer will be very much missed as she was very active in upgrading the facilities at the clinic, bringing in various workers, sourcing materials at a low cost, manning bazaar tables, and arranging the making of the totes. Her fresh and enthusiastic support has been very much appreciated. We hope she has a safe journey and all best wishes to her and her husband in his new position.

American University in Cairo & New Brochure Design Project
Dr. Salima Ikram, of the American University in Cairo (a well-known lecturer on the animal mummies of ancient Egypt), gave some of her students the project of designing a new brochure for EMRO in English, Arabic, French, and German this semester. The group visited EMRO on 20th March, touring both the center and clinic; they asked many questions and took photos to be placed in the new brochure. They appeared to be well pleased with both the facilities and the "inmates"! A rough draft made by the students and shown to the EMRO staff brought about some very excited reaction. The students altered the text to target specific audiences, and the whole idea behind the design was very professional. The group was led by Sabine Harding and a University student.

AUC Student Group at EMRO HQ and Staff

Front Row: Raphael Demmer, William Harding, Tracy Tidabock, Dr. Abdelrahman, Dr. Hazim. Back Row: Sabine Harding, Lori Lawson, Aliaa Ismail, and Animal Workers workers Mido Mohamed Mohamed, Mohamed Saeed Mustafa, and Ahmed Shaban (since left EMRO)..

Left: Dr. AbdelRahman Fahmy meeting with the AUC students. Right: Dr. AbdelRahman with Aliaa and Cathy.

Dr Ikram visited EMRO with her husband, Nicholas Warner, in February, the same day that Carmen and Darren Hedley arrived on their first visit. Carmen is from South Africa and is working with the Eboo Project Charity, which has supplied us with the totes made by local women. She and her husband are sponsoring two cats, Maher and Emmi (below).

Maus Maher and Emmi sponsored by Carmen and Darren Hedley, South Africa, who are working with the Eboo Project Charity.

We are hoping to produce a kitten care booklet translated from English into Arabic through PURINA, our sponsors, in the near future, to be handed out to adopters and others requesting them at bazaars or at the Center. The eLocalize Company in Nasr City will donate the translation at no charge. 

Mohamed Aly Abdel Hamid and Ahmed Abdel Hameed (partner of "eLocalize".)

The Tales of Ozzie and Pharaoh
Ms. Gail Taylor has offered to write articles about EMRO and about her cat, Ozzie, who she and her partner, Milan Matejovic, found in the Sinai Desert. Plus, she will also be writing about the adoption of her EMRO Mau, Pharaoh (the first article appeared in the April edition of the British Community Association Chronicle). The editor has agreed to allow Gail to make an appeal for donations of blankets, baskets, pet toys, beds, and medicines. Gail has also been in touch with various ex-Pat clubs in Cairo to arrange dropping off points for these donations in the districts of Maadi and Mohandessin.

Top: Ozzi. Bottom: Pharaoh.

Foster Parents

EMRO is desperately looking for foster parents to foster needy cats and kittens. Click here for more information.

3. OUR NEW DONORS

Local - Egypt

• Ms. Roxie made a donation towards an outside cat cage.
• Ms. Faith donated to refurbishment of a cat cage.
• Ms. Khadija donated a microscope (currently held up at Customs!) & books.
• Ms. Lisa is generously continuing with a General Donation to help the EMRO Maus.
• Miss Ohana and Mrs. Siham have continued to make very generous donations towards the health and welfare of the EMRO Maus. Miss Ohana is also the proud Adopter of three EMRO Maus.
• Dr. Sahar (Ms. Hala's sister) made a donation for the new in-takes Hala, Caesar, and Blackie.
• Ms. Diane for her advanced donation towards Anoosh's sponsorship.

International

In Memory of Cleopatra

• Ms. Valeria Guarini, Italy
• Ms. Pamela Hamff, USA
• Mr. Eric and Ms. Mimi Swart, N.Y., USA
• Mr. Mark and Ms. Elizabeth Buckley, Auburn, N.H., USA, "In Loving Memory of our Sweet Cleopatra"
• Ms. Maria and Ms. Elena Marione, USA (donations of cat and dog items)
• Ms. Gail Taylor and Mr. Milan Matejovic (donations of toys, towels & meals)
• Ms. Cheri Collins, USA

4. CAT NEWS

A. EMRO Adoptions from Cairo

- USA

Left and Middle: Beautiful Shadow was adopted and sent by volunteer Ms. Faith to Dallas, Texas. Right: Little Timmon was adopted by Leo Moerkens of CI.

Left and Middle: Murphy and Michelle adopted by Eric and Mimi of New York City. Right: Filfil adopted by Ms. Yasmeen of New York City.

From Left to Right: Alyssa adopted by Jenna Sadd of Colorado; Bassem adopted by Melanie Dockery of Mississippi; Felly adopted by Carol Anne Green in Texas; and Lolly adopted by Robert Hood in Wisconsin.

- Europe

Shary (Zeezee) and Liza were adopted by Ms. Christine from Germany.

Shary and Liza (above) arrived safely in Germany but were found to be ill with a virus. They were given antibiotics and pills, and recovered well. Dispite being sick, both Maus settled in very well and were reported to be very tame, although Shary was a little shy at first, while Liza delighted in playing all the time. The two love each other and were quite often seen running around together in their flat. Their Adopter, Christine Boos, reports that both Shary and  Lize love to cuddle up with her. 

Sini was adopted by Ms. Viviane of Germany.

- Asia

Lulu (now Momo) was adopted by Ms. Linda of South Korea. A first for EMRO!

- Egypt

Cuty (Ginger), Atum (Orange), and Atif (Tiger) were adopted by Ms. Ohana and Mrs. Siham.

Salam (Nacho) was adopted by Mr. Fadi. Statuesque Diane was adopted by Ms. Sarah. And beautiful Laban was adopted by Ms. Yasmina.

Pharaoh, rescued from the Pharonic Village) was adopted by Ms. Gail. Enas (Twix) and Saleema (Snikers) were adopted by Ms. Dina.

B. New Cats In-takes - To Adopt, click here.

New Intakes - Hala, Caesar, and Blackie.

Hala's Kittens - Haley, Halo, and Hatim.

Hala's Kittens - Hazem and Helen.

Alex (adopted locally), Grey, and Prince.

C. Featured Cats

Boosey and Noha

• Boosey is female, Red Classic Native Egyptian Shirazi Mau. Boosey has an eye infection and was kept caged outside. She was depressed in the cage but, after a bit of attention, she brightened up considerably and is a small, affectionate Mau. She is now in boarding at EMRO and is receiving eye ointment for her left eye. (Note: Boose means "kiss" in Arabic; i.e. "Kissy"). She was born January 2009.
• Noha is a female, Dark Bronze Native Egyptian Mau. This lovely lady is a rescue from Cairo by Mrs. Nagua, a local doctor who loves cats. Originally semi-feral, she was kept outside. Unfortunately, this kitty had a run-in with a wild dog that attacked and injured her. This incident left her with a residual of a slight limp on her back leg,  She is a lovely girl, friendly and sweet, and can be either an inside or outside cat. She was born January 2008.

D. In Memorium

Elliott, died of infection; Meshmesha2 died of kidney failure; and Nousa died of physical injuries due to trauma.

Esme died of asphyxia as her ears were being cleaned.

E. Missing Cats

Frankie and Tuna - Went Missing in March 2010.

F. Our New Sponsors

A big "Thank You" and a heartfelt "Welcome" to our new Sponsors who signed on during the first quarter of 2010:

- Local (Egypt)

- International

G. KSA Cat News

- From KSA to USA

Prince was adopted and flown to Cairo Cats Cattery in Midland, Texas where he is enjoying his life as a "Mau stud".

Kon and Kairo were adopted and flown to Washington, D.C.; Bibi and Paddy were both adopted locally in Saudi Arabia.

The Tale of Sinbad, the Female Sailor Cat

This is the tale of Sinbad, the female KSA Mau who became a "sailor" and was adopted by a crew of deep-sea divers. This story was submitted by Pete Hughes, a British deep-sea diver working off the East Coast of Saudi Arabia. He discovered Sinbad onboard his diving support vessel after it had left Dammam and was hundreds of miles away from the original port. Mr. Hughes took pity on this sad, little cat, fed her and took care of her. What follows is an amazing story of how a little Mau captured the hearts of Peter and his fellow divers all described as "big, rough-tough deep sea divers". The entire narrative in Mr. Hughes' own words, has not been changed in any way, and is a true, heart-warming story you will never forget. Click on the "here" above Sinbad's picture to read the entire story which is still unfolding.

Click here to read my story. Sinbad

5. EMRO AND MAU NEWS

A. EMRO is now up on Facebook! Click here to Sign Up or Sign In. We are constantly updating our Facebook with new in-takes and pictures of happy Maus not only adopted from EMRO, but from proud Mau owners around the world.

Yassir's "WCF Premier" certificate.

C. Clinic Update with X-ray Machine
X-ray machine, mini-lab, and centrifuge in lab. The new X-ray machine which Dr Elkholy and Ms Lauris have sponsored to add to the services offered by the clinic is a hit, and has been used at least weekly already. Below are pictures of the EMRO Office, and the EMRO Pet & Gift Shoppe with items for sale such as totes, t-shirts, Purina Cat Chow, and cat toys. Notice Tony the Cat checking out the items!

Left: EMRO Gift Shoppe (click for larger image); Middle: EMRO's brand new Centrifuge to separate particles in blood samples; Right: EMRO's new X-ray machine.

Left: X-ray machine and Sanitizing Area (in background); Middle: Dr. Tony & Ahmed setting up X-ray; Right: Dr. Tony & Ahmed preparing Shaddy the cat for X-raying.

Left: Dr. Tony & Ahmed cleaning Shaddy's teeth; Middle: Shaddy's abcessed teeth: Right: Sealing Shaddy's wound with cotton gauze.

D. Improvements to the Facilities
All the center’s cages (23 in total) are to be refurbished at a cost of LE150 (USD30) each. Any donations towards one of these would be greatly appreciated. Our first donor is Ms. Faith Kufer; our grateful thanks to her for starting the ball rolling in this area.

Gloria Lauris and her husband Dr. Ismail Elkholy have also provided money towards the LE1,750 needed to build an outdoor cage with shading, and a play area where we can house the older cats. Roxie Walker, a friend of Dr Ikram has donated LE500 towards this new cage. Dr Elkholy and Ms Lauris have also sponsored a new X-ray machine to add to the services offered by the clinic. We also have the possibility to offer grooming and hope to set up a special room dedicated to this eventually.

Khadija Hammond is donating a microscope to EMRO and has given us some more copies of her book to raise funds. We have also done up the boarding room and are refurbishing the cages as mentioned, plus adding some play items.  New matting has been provided in all three rooms. New locks have been put on all doors and a pump on the door leading to the three rooms where the cats are housed inside.

Please note that the microscope donated by Ms Khadija is still currently held up in customs! We hope it will be released to us soon and not confiscated by them

E. New NESMA Members (Native Mau breederies worldwide)
NESMA has two new members: Crimson Cats in British Columbia, Canada and Aithne representing Australia and New Zealand . Please note that Crimson Cats will not be open for business until 2011. All Canadian NESMA breeders are currently on hold, including High Priest Cattery. Aithne will be open for business by end of the year, but they currently do not have a web site available.  Please feel free to contact them if interested to be put on a wait list for a kitten or retired breeder in future. Stay tuned for more news in future on these groups.

Click here to view NESMA website.

F. MENAW Conference (Middle East Network for Animal Welfare)

EMRO is pleased to present two articles written on this conference. Please read below.

THE VOICE OF THE SILENT MINORITY
MENAW CONFERENCE 2010 (Middle East Network for Animal Welfare) “Mission Possible, Legislation & Enforcement”

Article 1. This second MENAW Conference was held from 1st to 3rd March at the Concorde el-Salam Hotel in Heliopolis. This conference, specifically assembled for animal welfare groups in the Middle East, went off very well with plenty of interesting presentations and workshops. EMRO had a booth display with three attendees - Dr. Abdelrahman Fahmy, Dr. Hazim Hassan, and Ms. Rosalind Smith. EMRO's booth and attendance fees were supported and sponsored by PURINA.... (To read the complete MENAW report submitted by Ms. Rosalind Smith, click here.)

Article 2. Following the success of the first groundbreaking MENAW conference in Cairo in 2007, the El Salam hotel in Heliopolis hosted the 2nd MENAW conference in March 2010.

The MENAW organisation was founded by Ahmed El Sherbiny the society's Chairperson, a law attorney and passionate animal welfare advocate, and Robert Blumberg of ESAF (Egyptian Society of Animal Friends). (To read the complete MENAW report submitted by Ms. Gail Taylor, click here.)

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G. Maus to the U.K.

This is the ongoing saga of Rebekah Freeman's attempt to get 5 EMRO Maus from Egypt and into the U.K.! Three Maus are still waiting in France, and two Maus she did manage to bring in were rehomed with a couple of her friends (carefully watched by her). Rebekah has spent an enormous amount of time, effort, and money trying to get the cats as far as she has, and she would be exceedingly happy if her story gets out. I'll ask for some photos or forward some to you from my files once I see a draft up. She hopes to send an update by the fall's edition as she hopes to have them home in the UK by Aug 2010.

Our Story, by Rebekah Freeman (in her own words)
My journey with EMRO started way back on the 1st January 2008, when I sent an email to Gloria Lauris, Co-founder of EMRO, about the possibility of bringing an Egyptian Mau from her rescue centre into the UK. Like her, I had visited Egypt and vowed to make a difference in the native cats' lives, after seeing how they were suffering. The Egyptian Mau is a breed of cat that is very close to my heart and I am an active follower and supporter of the breed here in the UK. I actually have a silver Mau called Angel, who's name is a testament to the breed's disposition. (Completely adorable! Click here to read the rest of her story.)

Dino, Habiba, Rusty, Samya, and Simsim

6. MERCHANDISE, BAZAARS, AND ITEMS FOR SALE

EMRO works with Charity Groups for Out of Work People
Because of the ‘but what about helping people’ reaction of many in Egypt when approached to support EMRO, we decided that as we needed some things to promote us and bring in funds, so why not use charities supporting the out of work, etc? So, we recently received some lovely tote bags that were made for us by a new local charity eboo Project in Mokattam supporting out of work women, who are heads of family, orphans and much more.  Faith Kufer sourced the material and reached agreement with them for a trial run of 24 tote bags.  We have just put them up for sale and the reaction so far is very good. (photo)

And even more recently, El-Wady Charity at Zamalek Cathedral supporting various groups and African refugees, have produced t-shirts. The first lot is a trial run and are in black or white only for adults and children. For the children there is a cute cartoon cat with spots and for the adults a silhouetted cat. Initial reactions again were good but many adults wanted the kitty t-shirts for themselves!! So we will have to produce some of those once we see how we do with selling the current batch.

The quality of work from both charities is first class. The public both expat and local like the idea as they are not only helping an animal charity when they buy the items, they are also helping create jobs and in this economic climate every little bit of empowerment helps.

Bazaars
EMRO took part in the monthly bazaar in January at the Community Services Association (CSA) in Maadi. Unfortunately the weather was extremely unpleasant being cold and windy (yes, it can happen) and thus we did not get much traffic at our table. We sold very little and received only a few donations.

March turned out to be a better month although, again, the weather was a deciding factor since it decided to go to summer mode (around 35 from the low 20’s), and humid to boot! There were quite a few people passing by the various tables, but it is clear that the economic recession has bitten deeply as there were fewer people they were not buying as many items from the stalls or donating to the charities. There was also little interest in finding about the EMRO charity, which was a little disappointing. Traffic at the table is all important factor in getting a higher profile; however, EMRO was lucky in one respect, three people did finally stop at our table. One was Carmen Hedley, who visited EMRO with her husband, Darren, in February (both are now sponsoring two cats - Maher and Emmi), plus they were kind enough to have donated various cat toys. She purchased one of our new t-shirts, as a birthday gift for her husband. Another visitor, who loves loved cats, purchased one of our new totes, an EMRO calendar, and other items. We also managed to sell a donated cat bed and puppy flea collars to another customer. So, keep those donations for both dogs and cats rolling in as they help us in raising much-needed funds.

Darrin and Carmen Hedley, Dr. Fahmy, Ms. Rosalind Smith, and Ms. Faith.

The Hedley's with their sponsored Maus, Emmi and Maher.

EMRO eStore
EMRO has T-shirts, totes, and other cat and dog supplies (kindly donated by volunteers), as well as PURINA products for sale (dry food for both cats and dogs). Click on the photo below to view our current products. (Black and white kitty not for sale!) Also, you may click here to go directly to the EMRO eStore for other items such as books, magazines, CD's, etc.

EMRO Pet & Gift Shoppe

Items Made by El-Wady Charity Shop
Cotton T-shirts for adults in black or white – all sizes LE60
Cotton T-shirts for children in black or white – sizes 6-8, 8-10, 10-12 LE40

Items Made by eboo Project
Totes in leopard print; LE40
Calendars 2009 – reduced to LE20
PURINA pet food available for sale at EMRO!
We shall have some specially designed greetings cards for sale in the near future.

Reports submitted by Ms. Rosalind Smith.

7. UPCOMING

• New isolation cages/area are in progress
• EMRO Suite is now available for weekly or monthly rental. Click here.
• Article on Pharoah (Bumble) and Ozzie by Gail
• PURINA food available for sale at EMRO!
• Kitten Care Booklet - Ongoing
• Upcoming Bazaars - Second weekend in May and Party in the Park on 21st May
• Upcomng Adoption Days - We will have an ‘Open Day’ in the Fall
• Software - Hopefully soon!
• AGM aimed for July 2010
• Microscope, pending
• Interview and Thanks to local foster parent, Lynsay Flowers, who is leaving this Summer (new foster parents urgently needed! Please see our appeal, click here.
• Welcome to our new volunteer Adoption Assistants: Ms. Shannon Mooney (North America) and Ms. Ohana Abou el Fettouh(Egypt).
  

Please, PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. We are their Guardians, we are their Protectors and WE have the power to control the pet overpopulation and their subsequent suffering and abuse. Please view the cute video below which contains a very powerful message.

EMRO Team Editors:
Rosalind Smith
Gloria Lauris
Aida Marina

(Updated May 13, 2010)