Temperatures in the city soar to nearly 40 degrees Celsius as it is gripped by its now annual heatwave, and humans are not the only ones feeling the heat. Stray animals, littered across the city, are particularly vulnerable in such harsh climate and are usually left on their own. A local start-up dealing with sustainable housing solutions, has come up with a way to help stray animals by providing them shelter and hopefully acceptance. “Animals are not protected in Pakistan like they are in other countries,” said Nabeel Siddiqui associated with the start-up. “We are a company that specialises in affordable and sustainable housing that is ideal for refugees and internally displaced persons. We were approached by an organisation to make a few shelters for dogs as part of their corporate social responsibility, so we have built three for them using the technology we use to produce our relocatable and low-cost houses that are built with recycled material. We are a for-profit social enterprise so we don’t take donations.” Siddiqui added that each shelter can house between six to nine animals depending on their size. “The shelters are good to look at as well, so hopefully they will help people accept strays because right now they are just shunned aside. This will not only give them shelter but will also help create acceptance and awareness for these animals.” The Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation that works actively to provide shelter to stray animals of all kinds is now looking to place an initial order of around 500 such shelters, Siddiqui claims, to be put all around the city.
