At its heart, Baladi is a project about animal rescue. Particularly, global animal rescue and the country of Egypt. Stray animal overpopulation is a problem in every corner of the world but poorer countries struggle with the issue more than others. Having traveled extensively myself, I’ve seen various methods of animal control. Some, such as what we do in the US, are seen as more humane and effective. Others, like in Egypt, can be outright brutal. Any animal lover would be repulsed by the Egyptian government’s way of dealing with their “baladi” dogs and cats.

“Baladi” essentially means “local.” So when we say baladi dogs, we’re basically saying the local mutts that roam the streets. The government is known to organize mass poisonings in certain neighborhoods and the police will sometimes shoot stray dogs on sight.

The ordinary people of Egypt seem to be divided into clear black and white viewpoints when it comes to their baladis. They either love them or they hate them. There’s not a lot of room in between. Sadly, it’s very common for children and young adults to abuse street animals, sometimes even killing them. I’ve witnessed this or been close to it every single time I’ve visited Egypt. It seems to plague the poorer and less educated regions of the country but it’s not uncommon to see it in the tourist areas. That’s where I first came in.

I first traveled to Egypt in 2010 as a tourist. I stayed on Haram Street (Pyramids Street) with two friends in a nice hotel. We were close enough to the Pyramids to see them from the rooftop restaurant so I’d say we were at the heart of the tourism district of Cairo. The morning of our second day changed my life forever. There was a scrawny, dirty, injured dog hobbling about the sidewalk in front of our hotel. It was close to some people so, not knowing any better at the time, I just assumed it was theirs. Later in the day, I was woke up from a nap by sounds of a dog crying and yelping. I looked out the window and saw children relentlessly chasing and hitting the dog right in front of their parents, who could obviously not care less. I mustered up the courage to intervene and my future involvement in animal rescue began at that very moment.

I spent the rest of my trip in Cairo obsessing over this dog and eventually was able to bond with her before leaving. Walking away from her to come home was absolutely crushing. I sobbed uncontrollably at the prospect of leaving this dog to her fate on those streets. When I got back to the US, I found an animal shelter in Cairo called ESMA and put them to task finding the dog. As one of their founders Mona Khalil would later describe to me, “getting a call saying we need you to find a dog on Haram Street is like saying we need you find a particular fish in the ocean.” Needless to say, she found that fish. ESMA helped get my dog Sphyncus to the US and this begins part two of this book.

Integrating a wild street dog into my personal life and family situation was not easy. I had no idea what I was in for and at times felt like maybe I was in over my head and had made a mistake. Every dog has their own personality but this one was different. She was a scrapper. She was fearful. She was quirky. Most of all, she was extremely appreciative.

I use this section of the book to tell stories of having a new dog in my life and give the reader a glimpse of the joys having dogs can bring. Almost all readers will have had a dog at some point, it’s safe to say that most interested in this book will probably currently have one. Still, the majority of dog owners get theirs from shops or breeders as they typically want a specific type of dog. This part of the book attempts to sell the public on the different type of love a shelter dog can bring. Their mentality is somehow different and their love possibly goes deeper because they can sense how hopeless their situation was before you entered their lives.

Thanks to social media, information sharing is much wider than before so I feel like the plight of stray animals and shelter animals is becoming more commonly known, thus people are adopting shelter animals at higher rates than before. Most people I know now have gotten their pets from local shelters. However, animals in the US have a much higher chance of getting adopted than those in a place like Egypt. Every time I bring dogs back to the US from Cairo that are heading to a rescue somewhere, there’s always a Customs officer ready to point out how many animals we have here that need homes. As much as it’s a valid point, the animals here at least have a chance. In Egypt, ESMA has adopted purebred dogs of different breeds to local people but only a couple baladis have found homes in Egypt in their 12 years of operation. All others have been sent overseas somewhere or will live out their entire lives in the shelter as ESMA is strictly no-kill.

ESMA being no-kill is another key selling point to this story. They are overrun with animals, currently housing somewhere around 1,500 dogs and cats in one location. They’re run entirely on donations and utilize a lot of volunteer work to keep the place going. I’m optimistic that my story would not only shine a light on the situation animals face in Egypt but also maybe inspire some people to consider adopting a baladi dog. After reading about the hilarious adventures of Sphyncus, I have confidence that people would want to know firsthand what these unique dogs are like. If nothing else, they will sympathize with them and want to help spread awareness and maybe contribute to help keep ESMA afloat.

Finally, the last part of Baladi sees me deal with the personal tragedies of losing one of my best friends and losing my soulmate dog E-Style, and how returning to Cairo for the first time would help heal the void in my heart. I know it sounds dramatic, but at the time I wrote the book, I had just returned to Egypt for the very first time since my first visit in 2010. That first visit left a bad taste in my mouth in regards to the people and culture of the country, and I had never wanted to go back. After dealing with such personal loss, I felt like I needed to do something different to feel a sense of purpose again. So in 2017, almost seven years later to the day, I returned to Cairo alone and worked all week long at ESMA. I was welcomed with open arms by the people and I gained an entirely new view of the country and culture I once despised. It presented a dichotomy of emotions and viewpoints that I still have difficulty differentiating between.

In the end, I feel I have an interesting story to tell that is unique to me. Animal rescue in Egypt is not something commonly spoken of and I know of no other adoption stories that are similar to mine. It’s my hope that the book will leave readers not only wanting to adopt a dog, but also to get involved in animal rescue and maybe even visit Egypt themselves. It’s a story of travel, rescue, loss, and redemption.