Fear has emptied homes in Dubai. For many pets, it has also emptied food bowls.

As regional violence pushes people to leave the Gulf, rescuers say cats and dogs are being abandoned at a shocking rate. Some have been left at shelters. Others have been found tied outside, shut inside apartments, or stranded in neighborhoods they do not know. The Guardian reports that charities including K9 Friends, Dubai Street Kitties, and Six Hounds have all described a surge in animals being left behind, while Newsweek reports that shelters and kennels are now overcrowded or already full.

Dubai shelters are struggling to keep up.

Why so many owners are leaving without them

The crisis did not start with indifference alone. It also grew out of speed, cost, and chaos.

Airspace disruption has pushed many residents to search for any way out. Reuters reports that departures from Dubai have become more complicated as flights operate at reduced capacity, more people try to leave through Oman and Saudi Arabia, and private charter prices have doubled on some routes.

At the same time, Newsweek notes that animal flight limits and relocation paperwork have made it even harder for families to move quickly with pets.

Pets are becoming silent victims of war.

Animals trapped in homes and pushed onto the streets

Rescuers say the fallout is brutal.

A crying cat was reportedly filmed alone on a balcony after being left without care, according to Newsweek.

RSPCA branch chief Hannah Mainds, who has helped care for abandoned animals in Dubai, said some were microchipped and clearly once lived in loving homes. She warns that pets can become the “forgotten victims” of a crisis when families flee without a plan.

For British residents especially, that warning carries weight. The RSPCA says pets traveling from the UAE to Great Britain do not usually need quarantine if their paperwork, microchips, rabies vaccinations, and dog tapeworm treatment are in order. In other words, many animals are not being left because travel is impossible, but because the process is being handled too late.

Some animals have been left with no food or water.

Dubai responds as shelters strain

City officials are trying to reduce the damage after the fact.

According to Dubai Media Office, Dubai Municipality has launched 12 AI-powered “Ehsan Stations” to feed stray animals and gather data, while also continuing temporary shelter care and trap-neuter-return programs.

The Guardian adds that abandoning pets is illegal in the UAE and can bring heavy fines. But feeding stations cannot replace a family, and rescue groups say the calls have not stopped.

This is what war can do far from the battlefield. Not only to people trying to escape, but to the animals waiting at the door for them to come home.