Several episodes of violence against animals, especially street dogs, has pushed the Egyptian media to highlight some of these incidents and shine a light on animal rights organizations. The first publicized incident was in December and involved a female dog named Heart, who was rescued after being tortured and burned by a caustic substance thrown on her. The second incident was the beating and slaughter of Max, known in the media as “Dog al-Ahram.”
A video showing the torture and death of Max spread through social networking sites in February. After presentation of the video and reports by citizens, a Shubra al-Kheima court sentenced the dog’s killers to three years in prison March 11. In an incident this month, someone killed six puppies and their mother with a stick embedded with nails.