# ESMA Alert



## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

ALERT, CATASTROPHIC NEWS , the Egyptian government suspended all imports of pet food with immediate effect. This is horrific for all shelters and pet owners, all the special cases that need special diet food and other cases that only eat dry specially , this is just beyond anything we expected and it is a big blow to anyone working in the animal field or owning animals at all


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

The Egyptian government is planning to stop the import of luxurious products to lessen the country's foreign expenses, according to AlMasry AlYoum.
The Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Trade created a list in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance to stop the import of luxurious products and thus, stop the depletion of foreign currency, according to AlMasry AlYoum newspaper.

The Minister of Industry Dr. Mahmoud Eissa told the newspaper that the list contained luxurious commodities that would not affect the production line and only represent a minor percentage of inflow.

Eissa added that the list would be ready by next week, and it would be immediately implemented at the customs department. He explained that it was necessary for such decisions to be made now, since it would save this country a lot of foreign expenses.

President of the Importers-Department in the Cairo Chamber of Commerce Ahmed Shiha clarified to AlMasry AlYoum that there are not more than 10 types of “provocative products”, which is less than 5% of all imported goods.

Shiha gave an account of some of the mentioned commodities, such as cat and dog food, Korean lettuce, chewing gum, alcohol, cigarettes, and pork-based products. The customs and sales tax implemented on these products by the government are between 50% and 300%, in order to decrease their import.

President of the Importers-Department in the Chambers of Commerce Union Hamdy AlNagary added: “The list contains vine leaves, ostrich-meat, red caviar, jumbo shrimps etc. The total of inflow from these products sum up to about $4 billion annually, according to the Import and Export Control Panel.”


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## PaulAshton (Nov 18, 2011)

MaidenScotland said:


> ALERT, CATASTROPHIC NEWS , the Egyptian government suspended all imports of pet food with immediate effect. This is horrific for all shelters and pet owners, all the special cases that need special diet food and other cases that only eat dry specially , this is just beyond anything we expected and it is a big blow to anyone working in the animal field or owning animals at all


Another set back for animals and pet shops..

Not all is lost, if after dry food try Canido, the Egyptian police use it for the dogs they have, if wet is required mix in some water.

It is made in Egypt and is 200LE for a giant bag that now lasts me 2 months as I only have one dog now, the cat's tuck in as well.

If that disappears it's off to the butcher shop for scraps, there are several links on the internet how to make home made cat and dog food.

My guy eats mash, soup and bread, falafel as well, he was in a horrible state when we found him, half dead.

Looks like another excuse to ban pork as well...


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah great.. I dont cook for myself never mind start making dry cat food.


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## canuck2010 (Jan 13, 2010)

Yikes. I was trying to order pet food from Dubai, but the import duty was way too high. Guess I'll just have to bring an extra suit case next time.


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## Helen Ellis (Aug 9, 2008)

Dry dog and cat food was not available in Egypt 20 or 30 years ago, (or at least I never saw it) so while making your own is time consuming, can be smelly and it's a pain to do, it can be done. Perhaps some enterprising person will start selling ready prepared pet meals from the freezer.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Helen Ellis said:


> Dry dog and cat food was not available in Egypt 20 or 30 years ago, (or at least I never saw it) so while making your own is time consuming, can be smelly and it's a pain to do, it can be done. Perhaps some enterprising person will start selling ready prepared pet meals from the freezer.




A few years ago it was the same..you couldnt buy dried food for love nor money, it was to do with bird flu that time


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## PaulAshton (Nov 18, 2011)

Helen Ellis said:


> Perhaps some enterprising person will start selling ready prepared pet meals from the freezer.


Hmmm I saw 20lb of rice in Carrefour, any one know where I can get some oxo cubes :confused2:

I will call it "Pimp my Pet"


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## Helen Ellis (Aug 9, 2008)

MaidenScotland said:


> A few years ago it was the same..you couldnt buy dried food for love nor money, it was to do with bird flu that time


Bird flu prevented the import of dry dog food? You are joking! No you're not are you, was there a world wide shortage or just here?


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Helen Ellis said:


> Bird flu prevented the import of dry dog food? You are joking! No you're not are you, was there a world wide shortage or just here?




It was dry cat food and I believe it was just here.. you couldnt get cat litter either

Thing is there is no local market for cat food so it is not as if it will boost sales of a locally made product


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## Helen Ellis (Aug 9, 2008)

PaulAshton said:


> Hmmm I saw 20lb of rice in Carrefour, any one know where I can get some oxo cubes :confused2:
> 
> I will call it "Pimp my Pet"



Doh, not oxo cubes!!!!! too much salt, just rice, minced meat, the cheapest, or liver/offal/tripe, chopped carrots or whatever veg. Cook all together, cool. One of the kennels nr me in UK fed black tripe and rice to it's dogs, stank like hell, but did them good.


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## hurghadapat (Mar 26, 2010)

Helen Ellis said:


> Bird flu prevented the import of dry dog food? You are joking! No you're not are you, was there a world wide shortage or just here?


Tinned dog food used to regularly disappear from the shelves sometimes for six to nine months at a time and another time you could only get dry cat food.It's amazing how you can improvise when needs must....i fed my cat and dog some weird and wonderful meals at times.


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## Helen Ellis (Aug 9, 2008)

MaidenScotland said:


> It was dry cat food and I believe it was just here.. you couldnt get cat litter either
> 
> Thing is there is no local market for cat food so it is not as if it will boost sales of a locally made product




So it was tinned sardines for the cat and sand for the box, lovely, wonder what will happen this time.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Helen Ellis said:


> Doh, not oxo cubes!!!!! too much salt, just rice, minced meat, the cheapest, or liver/offal/tripe, chopped carrots or whatever veg. Cook all together, cool. One of the kennels nr me in UK fed black tripe and rice to it's dogs, stank like hell, but did them good.




I am fostering cats so you would think they would be grateful for what they get, are they heck.. for some reason they have turned up their noses at their roast chicken two days in a row, so they are now eating my john west sild that I was going to have for supper. They will not eat rice but I am sure they must have got that in the cattery. They turn up their noses at chicken liver and tinned tuna. I made them scrambled egg today.. they threw it around the kitchen.
Mackerel is on the menu for tomorrow.. there is no way they are having my salmon.


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## Helen Ellis (Aug 9, 2008)

MaidenScotland said:


> I am fostering cats so you would think they would be grateful for what they get, are they heck.. for some reason they have turned up their noses at their roast chicken two days in a row, so they are now eating my john west sild that I was going to have for supper. They will not eat rice but I am sure they must have got that in the cattery. They turn up their noses at chicken liver and tinned tuna. I made them scrambled egg today.. they threw it around the kitchen.
> Mackerel is on the menu for tomorrow.. there is no way they are having my salmon.


At the garden flat I have just moved from I sometimes fed 4 kittens and their mother. They ate bread, lentil soup, raw eggs, scrambled eggs, hard cheese, feta cheese, biscuits, milk, any left overs ( but left the veg), rice, and of course tinned fish and chicken carcass, (well boiled and chopped up). When I put the sardines down they came running at full pelt, even before I'd called them, racing to get it and ate it like a labrador would, wolfing it down. That's grateful!


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Helen Ellis said:


> At the garden flat I have just moved from I sometimes fed 4 kittens and their mother. They ate bread, lentil soup, raw eggs, scrambled eggs, hard cheese, feta cheese, biscuits, milk, any left overs ( but left the veg), rice, and of course tinned fish and chicken carcass, (well boiled and chopped up). When I put the sardines down they came running at full pelt, even before I'd called them, racing to get it and ate it like a labrador would, wolfing it down. That's grateful!




Yes I give them sardines but I have to wash the oil off it first


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## marenostrum (Feb 19, 2011)

These cats have better dinners than I have 
Maybe one of you can cook me a decent dinner.


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## Pomegranite (Dec 26, 2011)

How in the world do they consider pet food to fall under "luxurious products"?


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Pomegranite said:


> How in the world do they consider pet food to fall under "luxurious products"?



it's the Egyptian way of thinking


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## Maireadhoey (Jul 25, 2011)

For ready made tinned dog food I use corned beef, halal of course, and cheaper than the imported concoctions, they love it. Not sure how nutritionally beneficial it is but it saves you messing around in the kitchen over a cauldron of offal and the like!



irisheyesoncairo


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## canuck2010 (Jan 13, 2010)

So I went to a petshop on road 9 and they confirmed that they can no longer import dog food. I bought enough to last a few months for our dogs. What they have left is selling fast.


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## PoleDancer (Apr 14, 2010)

Egypt mulls raising tariffs on 'luxurious' imports


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## PaulAshton (Nov 18, 2011)

With prices on luxury goods going up like import cheese, wine and caviar I will have to start seeking inspiration from chef Antony Worrall Thompson


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## CatMandoo (Dec 16, 2011)

:bump:

It's been almost a month now since this thread started. Has anyone noticed shortages of pet food? 

I did my monthly shopping couple days after this thread was started and bought 9 huge bags of Meow Mix. Haven't been back to the store to see if they have more.


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## charleen (Apr 26, 2009)

Maireadhoey said:


> For ready made tinned dog food I use corned beef, halal of course, and cheaper than the imported concoctions, they love it. Not sure how nutritionally beneficial it is but it saves you messing around in the kitchen over a cauldron of offal and the like!
> 
> 
> 
> irisheyesoncairo


My problem is that my dog gets really bad diahrea with people food. the canned beef...what a mess!! I am really not sure what I will do for him if there is no dry food...


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