The importance of pets


Naeila El Shatir considers her cat Sherry to be part of the family. (CBC)

Naeila El Shatir considers her cat Sherry to be part of the family. (CBC)

Thanks to Tim Gueguen for the heads up. Naeila El Shatir, a Syrian refugee, was very happy to be going to Canada, but she also had a great need to ensure another refugee made it with her, her cat Sherry.

“This cat suffered as we suffered in the war. He was always afraid,” she explained. “He spent a very difficult time with us. He always looked at me to ask, ‘When will all of this end?'”

[…]

For El Shatir, who counseled refugee children with psychosocial issues, taking care of Sherry became a form of therapy and a way of honouring her sister’s memory.

In February, El Shatir and her elderly mother were accepted as government-sponsored refugees in Canada, but pets were not allowed.

“There is no chance,” El Shatir said. “There is a big list of what you can bring and can’t bring. I can’t bring cats or plants.”

El Shatir was torn over whether to leave Sherry behind. In the end, she entrusted Sherry with her brother who promised to complete the extensive medical screening and paper work required to ship a cat to Canada.

[…]

“I thank Canada, its people, its government for giving the Syrian people a chance to restart our lives again. To have a chance to live in a normal way and a safe way. Also for giving my cat another chance to live.”

There seems to be a prevailing sense that any refugee should be damn glad to be out of a bad situation, who cares if they are treated like human beings floating about. It’s good to see there are people who do understand how difficult it is for refugees, and something like a beloved pet can make all the difference to a person, especially one who has been subjected to ongoing trauma. You Canadians are serious nice.

Comments

  1. Siobhan says

    You Canadians are serious nice.

    Only the ones that actually got the memo. We’ve got our… quaint… types too. <3

  2. says

    Siobhan:

    We’ve got our… quaint… types too.

    Considerably less that we have in the States, and that’s a good thing.

  3. ayarb003 says

    I teach English as a second language at a high school and I work with mostly Somali refugees. All of my students are new-to-country which means that it’s their first year in the USA and it’s also frequently their first experience with formal education. I have THE best job and I wish that I could explain the wildly beautiful scene that is my classroom.

    After working with these kiddos I really just want to underscore a point you made (and say thank you for stating this where so many others seem to gloss over this).

    At the end of your post you said, “especially one who has been subjected to ongoing trauma.”

    That idea of ongoing trauma is so true in all of my students’ lives, without exception. Even for students who have the best of transitions, I would argue that all of my students are facing trauma in that they are all in the process of losing their first language. Within just three generations, most of my students’s grandchildren will not speak their native language.

  4. says

    ayarb003:

    That idea of ongoing trauma is so true in all of my students’ lives, without exception. Even for students who have the best of transitions, I would argue that all of my students are facing trauma in that they are all in the process of losing their first language. Within just three generations, most of my students’s grandchildren will not speak their native language.

    That’s terrible, and it might take generations, but regret will set in. That happened in my own family, and it was a constant source of sorrow. It’s important to stay connected to your roots, but this is what trauma will do, sever those roots, which is a trauma in itself.

    I thank you so very much for the work you’re doing, I know you’re making a great change for those kids, and helping them so much.

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