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ISLAMABAD: On a bright Sunday afternoon this month, the courtyard of Coffeemistry, a cozy café in Islamabad’s upscale F-8 neighborhood, filled with wagging tails and cheerful barks as dog lovers gathered for a meet-up.

The café has long been known in the neighborhood for its pet-friendly ethos, complete with cat beds tucked into corners and bowls of food left out for strays. In a city where pets are often barred from parks, Coffeemistry has built a reputation as one of the few welcoming spaces, where waiters recognize regulars by name, neighbors linger over board games or laptops, and even the local cats lounge as honored guests.

It was here that a group of friends, through their Instagram page “Dogs of Barkistan,” launched a meetup last Sunday to bring pet parents, rescuers and curious visitors together to nurture a community built on compassion.

Anza Nadeem, a 30-year-old pilot and the main organizer, said the idea started as a WhatsApp group before becoming an Instagram page that now hosts casual weekend meetups for dog owners to connect and socialize.

“We started off about a month ago. We have done a few meets,” Nadeem, who was accompanied by his Golden Retriever named Tiger, told Arab News.

“We do casual meets. Dog owners meet dog owners. We do barbeques, movie nights.”

The group has held three events so far and hopes the gatherings will grow into weekly meetups, with plans to raise funds for local shelters through small, ticketed entries.

“TEACH EMPATHY”

The latest ‘dawg meetup’ at Coffeemistry featured dogs of several breeds — from Chihuahuas to German Pointers, English Springer Spaniels, Labradors and rescued strays — all tugging at their leashes or flopping under café tables as their owners mingled.

Across Pakistan, pets and strays face a tougher reality. Dogs are routinely culled by municipal authorities, and dedicated shelters are few, leaving rescuers to shoulder much of the burden. Public spaces that welcome animals are rare, making initiatives like Islamabad’s new dog meet-ups stand out in contrast.

Varsha Khan, a stray-dog rescuer and co-organizer, said the ‘Dogs of Barkistan’ group welcomed not just dog owners, but also those hoping to adopt or simply get more comfortable around animals.

“I have rescued over 150 stray dogs over the past five years and placed them in various shelters for adoption,” she told Arab News.

Khan currently cares for 20 strays at her own home and often brings one or two along to each gathering.

“We’re hoping that as the community grows, future doggy meetups will include a small ticket price and the money raised from that can be donated to animal shelters here in Islamabad,” she said.

For attendees like Yumna Omar, who came without a pet but with an open mind, the event offered an entry point.

“I am here to meet the dogs,” she said with a smile. “We just started looking this week to adopt or buy one in Islamabad, but we do not really know where to begin.”

A stay-at-home mother, Omar described the afternoon as “a break from reality” and a step toward building a loving home.

“I have two 8-month-old twins, and I am a tired mama, so, I am just here to relax a bit,” she said.

“But I want my babies to grow up with animals. They would learn empathy that way. So that’s the purpose.”

ISLAMABAD: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Monday warned of a “severe” dengue outbreak in major cities of the eastern Punjab province along with those areas affected by floods, urging district administrations, health officials and the public to take pre-emptive measures against the disease. 

Dengue is a viral infection caused by the dengue virus, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. While many dengue infections are asymptomatic or produce only mild illness, the virus can occasionally cause more severe cases, and even death.

Floods in Punjab have killed 104 people since late August, affected over 4.5 million people and displaced more than 2.5 million. Authorities say they have launched the largest search and rescue operation in the province, as floodwaters recede and head toward the southern Sindh region. 

In its latest alert, the PDMA Punjab warned that favorable weather for the virus and flood-related waterlogging have made conditions conducive for the onset of dengue from Sept. 20 onwards. 

“It is predicted that this season poses an unprecedently high-risk of a severe dengue outbreak, particularly in major cities, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Multan as well as in flood affected areas across the Punjab,” the PDMA alert read.

The PDMA urged district administrations, the public and health officials to take precautionary measures to ward off the infection.

“Take preventive measures to prevent dengue, do not let water accumulate and keep your home clean,” PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said in a statement. “Ensure cleanliness and drainage of water in the camps of flood victims.”

He directed health agencies to remain on high alert and, use sprays and larvicides to prevent mosquito breeding.

Dengue fever is endemic to Pakistan, which experiences year-round transmission with seasonal peaks. This year’s first dengue-related death was reported in the country’s southern Sindh province on June 3.

Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad has carried out inspection and prevention measures after 11 dengue cases were reported in a day earlier this month.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had warned Pakistan’s flood-hit Punjab province has been witnessing an increase in vector-borne diseases. 

Punjab authorities have relocated thousands to relief camps across the province, where the WHO says unsafe drinking water and mosquitoes pose the main epidemic risks, making displaced people vulnerable to diarrhea, typhoid, malaria, dengue and skin infections.