A well-run city isn't only about roads, parks, and services for people. The animals that share the urban space with us — from stray cats to birds and desert wildlife — are part of the landscape too. In Dubai, a growing number of initiatives show how technology, environmental awareness, and animal welfare can work together to create a more balanced urban environment. Here is how the stray animals and wildlife are supported across the emirate.

The most recent initiative of the Dubai Municipality is the first of its kind in the region.

Launched in March 2026, Ehsan Stations are multifunctional AI-powered devices designed to feed stray cats and collect recyclable waste. Their AI-based system identifies stray animals, collects relevant data, and dispenses food accordingly.

At first glance, it might seem like a purely humanitarian project aimed at helping homeless animals, but in reality it addresses deeper issues as well. It offers the local community a sustainable alternative to random feeding — a well-intended practice that can fuel overpopulation of stray animals when it isn't supported by sterilisation, which results in bigger colonies exposed to difficult living conditions on the streets and diseases. Ehsan Stations help bring the situation under control by localizing stray cats’ populations in the areas where they are installed.

At the same time, the initiative promotes a recycling culture. Anyone can bring plastic bottles or metal cans to the station and contribute to feeding the strays — each donated piece of recyclable waste turns into the credits, where one item equals one portion of food dispensed. People can also collect points through the Cycled Rewards app, which can be redeemed for shopping vouchers.

At the moment, the project is in its pilot stage, so the idea will be tested and evaluated. The Municipality plans to install 12 stations across the emirate, including ten units in public parks and two within facilities operated by Dubai Holding.

Earlier this year, in January 2026, the city municipality announced another project providing vital support to the birds and wildlife through solar-powered water fountains.

Under the Fountains of Mercy project, 50 dedicated fountains were to be placed across the emirate: 25 installed in urban areas for birds and another 25 in desert and rural locations for wild animals.

Providing stray animals with food is a beautiful initiative, but to truly change their quality of life, additional measures are essential. That is why the emirate implements the Trap–Neuter–Return (TNR) and the Trap–Neuter–Vaccinate–Return (TNVR) programmes.

These are among the main methods used worldwide to control populations of free-roaming cats. Under these programmes, stray cats are humanely trapped, taken to a veterinary clinic to be sterilised, and then returned to the same location where they were found. Because the cats can no longer reproduce, colony numbers gradually stabilise and decline over time. Sterilised cats also tend to roam less, fight less, and create fewer disturbances such as mating noise or territorial spraying.

A closely related approach is Trap–Neuter–Vaccinate–Return (TNVR). In this version, cats aren't only sterilised but also vaccinated — usually against rabies and common feline diseases — before being returned. This adds an extra public-health benefit by reducing the spread of infectious diseases among animals and, in the case of rabies, protecting people as well.