Caring for nonhuman neighbors is an essential part of feeling at home for many residents of RAK and the UAE, both through the bonds they develop with cats and through the way that informal care networks enable new forms of community to emerge. Their experiences highlight the importance of animal welfare work to their lives and point to gaps—and opportunities—in local animal welfare policy.
Everyday acts of care in Al Hamra Village
Early one Sunday morning in March 2025, I met with Sumita (name changed) to feed about 12 cats that she takes care of in Al Hamra Village. In strategically placed locations around Al Hamra Village, there are feeding stations placed by the Ras al Khaimah Animal Welfare Center (RAKAWC), a largely volunteer-run animal rescue and welfare group based out of the emirate. Their activities supplement an informal network of resident-organized cat care that is coordinated through WhatsApp groups. These residents share information about sick or abandoned cats, and they coordinate visits to the welfare center and other vets for TNR (trap, neuter, and return) or medical care.
Since the formalized TNR and feeding program began, Sumita says she has seen a great improvement in the cats’ health, and less kittens being born: “They taught us how to trap the cats,” she explained. “We would leave the traps out overnight, and in the morning, they would collect them, neuter the cats, and bring them back in the evening.” Sumita has named all the cats in her care; she knows their favorite foods and distinct personalities. One especially curious and friendly cat accompanied us on our feeding run that morning.
Image 1: Community feeding station managed by RAKAWC (photo by author)
How cat care fosters belonging
After our walk, I asked Sumita how she got involved in cat care and how it impacts her relationship to RAK and the UAE. Although she was born in Dubai and her parents have been there for over 35 years, she has now been living in RAK for six years. Once she felt “settled” in RAK, she decided to adopt a cat. And then she adopted another. She also started to become friendly with the rescuers in her neighborhood, eventually taking over a feeding circuit when one of the rescuers moved away. She has now been feeding her little colony for three years. They all have their ears clipped to show they are neutered, and they are all clean and healthy. A managed cat colony like Sumita’s keeps other cats out and the cats are used to each other, so they do not fight.
For Sumita and others like her, cat care and pet ownership are ways of making home, even within a context like the UAE where permanence is not guaranteed to immigrants. These care practices produce relationships with cats that increase their sense of belonging to their neighborhoods; they also offer opportunities to form friendships with a diverse range of residents. Facebook and WhatsApp groups that residents use to care for street cats contain people from all walks of life: security guards, housewives, nannies, gardeners, office workers, etc. Women and men from a host of different national and class backgrounds, coming together to organize care for the nonhuman residents of the UAE.
Successes and challenges of animal welfare
RAKAWC and other organizations across the UAE have had success working with developers, hotels, and office buildings to institutionalize managed cat care programs. Not all areas of the UAE have the same level of organized care, however, that you find in a more well-to-do neighborhood like Al Hamra Village. In industrial areas and older parts of UAE cities it is harder to set up consistent welfare programs. Residents in those areas do their best for nonhumans, leaving out food and water in front of small businesses and mosques, for example. But with limited means and lack of buy-in from landlords and property owners, individual rescuers experience a lot of burnout, and stray cat populations remain unmanaged. Animals also often get abandoned in these areas by residents who are leaving the country or by breeders and pest control companies.
Image 2: cat feeding at a mosque near the Ras al Khaimah corniche (photo by author)
Best practices and policy implications
I have had the opportunity now to meet with many stakeholders in animal welfare, and to learn about the most effective practices around managed cat care—trap, neuter, vaccinate, microchip, return, and then offer proper food and vet care. I have also spoken to dozens of rescuers who feel overwhelmed and beg for better education around pet care and more resources. While street cats in the UAE are controversial and not always welcome by everyone, they are also embedded residents of this country and an essential part of home-making for thousands of people, immigrant and Emirati.
Organized animal welfare efforts like RAKAWC’s improve not only the lives of animals but also the wellbeing and civic engagement of human residents. But it is clear that most of the burden of animal care in this country still falls on individual residents and informal groups, which takes a large financial and emotional toll. More formalized school and community education programs and municipal resources for TNR will go a long way toward improving the everyday lives of our furry neighbors, as well as those who care for them.