Feature: Home, sweet home, for dogs in Egypt

Dogs in Egypt can finally enjoy a calm stay at a luxurious and comfortable hotel designed to keep the four paws tranquil and safe.

"The idea came across my mind when my friends who own dogs complained of lack of accommodations for their dogs when they are away," Azza Ayyoub, the owner of Porto Empire Pet Hotel in Rehab district of Cairo, told Xinhua.

The pet-lover lady, who already owns a farm where she breeds dogs and sells them as pets, decided to use her experience as a dog breeder in pampering man's best friend at her luxury pet resort.

"Many people in Egypt travel abroad and leave their dogs either with friends or modest local accommodations where dogs do not get the required treatment," said Ayyoub, who has been in the dog breeding business for five years.

Ayyob also said the resort is also a good choice for foreign tourists who visit Egypt, where pets are not permitted at most of the tourist sites, resort hotels and public transportation means.

Although the hotel is brand new and no official inauguration ceremony has been made yet, it has already attracted many customers who believe that it would be the best home for their dogs when they are away.

"My love to my dog is almost similar to my love to my family members and I always want him to be well cared. I always had caring problems with other accommodations," said Hisham Mohammed, who came to the hotel to leave his black mastiff dog there during his one-week work trip.

"For me, this is the best place in Egypt that can take care of my dog," he said, smiling.

Mohammed, who knew about the hotel from a friend, said he would advise his friends who have dogs to leave their pets at the report, since his dog was cared well.

"The place is marvelous, I will tell all my friends to leave their dogs here when they are abroad," said the young man.

The hotel offers comfortable rooms for 15 dogs where they can also enjoy 1,000 square meters of green space and play areas.

At the hotel, five highly trained pet care providers, who are animal lovers, take care of the dogs around the clock. The place also has a small clinic to deal with any urgent medical problems the dogs may have.

"We provide the dogs with hours of exercise and fun in safe open-air and indoor spaces," Ayyoub said. "I preferred to build the hotel in a remote unpopulated area to keep the dogs away from the noise of urban communities and reduce their stress."

Rates at the hotel start at 100 Egyptian pounds (about 13 U.S. dollars) a night if the dog owner has the food for their pets, and climb to 120 Egyptian pounds (16 U.S. dollars) if dogs are going to be fed three meals by the hotel, Ayyoub explained.

Ayyoub says she is in love with animals in general, giant dogs in particular. At her dog breeding farm, which neighbors the hotel, Ayyoub has adopted many street dogs who needed medical and welfare care.

The dogs she bred also won prizes in many local and international dog beauty contests.

As social media networks circulated the news of her pet hotel, Ayyoub was showered with criticism for her interest in caring for dogs rather than the poor in Egypt, where some 22 million people live under the poverty line.

Many people in Egypt, a Sunni Muslim country that has no strong animal rights protection laws, believe that dogs are traditionally unclean and impure, with Islamic clerics warning Muslims to stay away from them.

"The criticism never weakens me and I will never change my thoughts because I'm doing the right thing. God created dogs just like us and we should be merciful to them," said Ayyoub, as she hugged her three-year-old female dog named Koromba. Endit