The Animal Welfare Shelter, located at the Birds and Pets Market, combines veterinary care, rehabilitation, adoption facilities and digital services within a single centre. It is intended to reduce the number of animals living on the streets while making responsible adoption easier and more transparent for residents.
The facility includes a customer service centre, a pre-adoption viewing area and interactive rooms where prospective owners can spend time with animals before deciding whether to adopt them. Health information and behavioural assessments will help families select pets suited to their homes and ability to provide long-term care.
A dedicated online platform has also been introduced, allowing potential adopters to view animals available for rehoming and examine details about their medical condition and behaviour. The digital system is expected to reduce delays in adoption and give applicants more information before visiting the shelter.
Veterinary infrastructure at the centre includes a fully equipped clinic, an advanced surgical theatre, a grooming unit and areas for receiving and rehabilitating injured or abandoned animals. The shelter will provide temporary care while animals undergo medical examinations, treatment, vaccination and preparation for adoption.
A separate service will help reunite lost pets with their owners after identification details have been verified. Microchips and registration records can play a central role in tracing animals, particularly when pets are found without their owners or handed over to municipal teams.
Dubai Municipality has signed cooperation agreements with Vets Fur Pets Veterinary Clinic and Phoenix Veterinary Clinic to support the initiative. The partnerships cover emergency treatment for animals suffering from serious illnesses or injuries, rehabilitation programmes, public education and the humane management of community animals.
The agreements are also designed to promote cooperation among government departments, veterinary professionals, academic institutions, businesses and community organisations. This network will support knowledge-sharing, specialist care and campaigns encouraging owners to register, vaccinate and properly supervise their pets.
Dr Naseem Mohammed Rafie, acting chief executive of the Environment, Health and Safety Agency at Dubai Municipality, said the shelter strengthened the emirate’s public health and veterinary services while advancing animal welfare.
She said the centre supported the One Health approach, which recognises the relationship between human, animal and environmental health. The concept has become increasingly important in veterinary policy because animal disease control, responsible ownership and the management of stray populations can affect wider community health.
The shelter will operate alongside programmes used to manage community cats. These include Trap-Neuter-Return and Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return, under which suitable animals are captured, sterilised, vaccinated and returned to their original locations when they pose no danger to public safety.
Such programmes are intended to manage populations humanely while limiting uncontrolled breeding and the spread of disease. Animals requiring medical intervention, rehabilitation or permanent removal from unsafe environments can instead be transferred for treatment and possible adoption.
Dubai’s veterinary network delivered nearly 183,700 healthcare, preventive, treatment and regulatory services during the first half of 2026. These included 6,585 vaccinations for cats and dogs, the registration of 4,100 pets and the treatment and rehabilitation of 2,274 stray animals. A total of 298 animals were placed with adopters during the period.
Municipal adoption rules require applicants to be at least 21 and to have no recorded violations involving animal abuse or mistreatment. Approved applicants must complete the necessary procedures, pay vaccination and registration charges and collect the animal with its vaccination record.
The Warsan centre also supports efforts by Dubai’s Steering Committee for Preserving the Emirate’s Urban Appearance. Stray-animal management is increasingly being treated as both a welfare issue and an element of maintaining clean, safe and well-managed public spaces.
Authorities have stressed that adoption carries continuing obligations, including veterinary care, vaccination, identification and secure accommodation. Owners travelling abroad with pets must also check destination-country requirements, obtain veterinary health documentation and confirm airline transport arrangements.
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