ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - It's the dead of night, and lights are out in the city of Erbil, Kurdistan Region. A middle-aged woman wanders around one of the city's neighborhoods, with tens of kilograms of food as she seeks to sate the hunger of an ever-increasing amount of stray dogs; innocent animals largely looked down upon by society due to religious and cultural reasons.

So operates the nightly life of Inaam Sabir, a 49-year old Arab woman originally from Mosul but now residing in Erbil's Hawleri Nwe neighborhood. At night, she searches for stray dogs in the neighborhood as well as the northern industrial zone and feeds them with more than 120 kilos come morning.

"One evening I was going back home and I saw a starving dog rummaging for food in the garbage and found nothing, and this drew my attention. I saw that the dog had a used diaper for children and wanted to eat it, which had a huge impact on me, so I decided to help these dogs since that day," Sabir told Rudaw on Thursday, describing the origins of her love for dogs.

Sabir continued by saying that she started gradually, with some food occasionally and then, alongside her husband, started collecting food from butcheries and restaurants. "Now, a company with prepared food helps us pick up the bones and fat that remains."

Explaining why she chooses nighttime to feed the dogs, she cited low traffic, saying that dogs come closer to populated areas to eat without fear as people are sleeping. Sabir also adds that she sometimes receives help from other people, who prepare food for the dogs.

She also called on people to throw excess meat and bones in places where hungry dogs and cats could eat them.

A shelter built to house stray dogs in Sulaimani in January quickly turned into a cemetery, as more than 80 dogs were found dead in the shelter on Sunday with animal health organizations claiming they died of a viral infection.

Stray dogs are often considered a menace and a public health issue in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. They are commonly shooed away, beaten, hit with sticks, and killed by cars.

A few years ago, a policeman in Erbil proudly admitted to killing around 3,000 stray dogs, 40 of whom he shot in one night.

Sabir’s approach is extremely contrasting by comparison. She notes that dogs are “very loyal,” and that, “whenever you see me, you know I’ve brought them food and sometimes more than a hundred dogs have gathered around me.”

By Julian Bechocha