Dubai Animal Welfare Shelter in Warsan: How to Adopt, Fees and Hours (2026)
How to adopt a cat from Dubai Municipality's Animal Welfare Shelter in Warsan: the step-by-step process, the AED 230 service charge, opening hours and rules, plus what to know about the Birds and Pets Market around it.
Dubai Municipality’s Animal Welfare Shelter sits inside the Birds and Pets Market in Warsan, and it is now the cheapest legitimate way to bring a cat home in the emirate: adoption itself is free, with an AED 230 service charge that covers the vaccination, microchip, sterilisation and registration you would otherwise pay for separately. This guide covers how the adoption works step by step, what the shelter will ask of you, and the market around it. For the wider picture see our guides to cat adoption in the UAE and dog adoption in Dubai.
Last checked 24 October 2026.
This is the single most common mix-up about it. The Warsan shelter rehomes cats. Dubai Municipality’s dog adoptions go through the veterinary clinic in Al Khawaneej, which is covered in our dog adoption guide.
How to adopt from the Warsan shelter
- Apply through the DubaiNow app, the Dubai Municipality website or the Aleef app.
- Processing usually takes about an hour.
- An interview covers how you will care for the cat: vet visits, nutrition and your home.
- You meet your cat in one of the shelter’s adoption rooms.
- You pay the AED 230 service charge, which covers vaccination, deworming, microchip, sterilisation and registration. The cat leaves with a passport.
- Collect within two working days.
- Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10am to 3pm
- Who can adopt: 21 or over, with no record of animal abuse
- Fee: adoption free, AED 230 service charge per cat
- Capacity: around 200 cats
- No surrenders: the shelter does not accept owner surrenders or rescuer drop-offs. To report a stray, call Dubai Municipality on 800900
Demand is real: 18 cats were adopted in the shelter’s first 20 hours.
What is inside the shelter
The facility was built to international animal welfare standards, and holds:
- A customer service centre for enquiries and adoption support
- A pre-adoption viewing area
- Interactive adoption rooms where you meet the cat
- A fully equipped veterinary clinic and a surgical theatre
- A grooming unit
- A reception and rehabilitation centre for stray and abandoned animals
- A lost pet reunion centre, which returns missing pets to owners after ID verification
Dubai Municipality also runs an online adoption platform alongside the shelter, so you can see an animal’s health and behavioural profile before you travel.
Veterinary partnerships and stray management
Dubai Municipality has cooperation agreements with two UAE veterinary providers, Vets fur Pets Veterinary Clinic and Phoenix Veterinary Clinic. They cover treatment of stray and abandoned pets with injuries or serious illness, humane management programmes for community animals, and public awareness work on responsible ownership.
Alongside the shelter, the Municipality runs Trap-Neuter-Return and Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return programmes: stray cats are trapped, sterilised, vaccinated and returned to where they were found, provided they pose no risk to public safety. This is why the shelter does not take drop-offs — a healthy community cat is returned to its colony rather than housed.
Dubai Municipality frames the shelter around the One Health approach, the link between human, animal and environmental health, and presents responsible adoption and care as part of community culture. That framing comes from Dr Naseem Mohammed Rafei, Acting CEO of the Environment, Health and Safety Agency at Dubai Municipality.
It follows the emirate’s 12 AI-powered “Ihsan” feeding stations for stray and abandoned animals, launched in March 2026.
Warsan Birds and Pets Market: what to know
The shelter sits inside Dubai Municipality’s Birds and Pets Market in Warsan 3, off Al Awir Road near International City and Dragon Mart (Makani 4456482095). The market has about 80 shops in four complexes selling birds, cats, dogs, rabbits, ornamental fish, reptiles, food, cages and accessories, and an on-site vet clinic, pharmacy, quarantine building and pet hotel. Dubai Municipality lists opening hours of 8am to 2pm and 4pm to 10pm; individual shops vary, so call ahead on 04 287 3463.
Shops in the market sell animals and do not screen buyers. Adopting from the shelter or a rescue costs AED 230 to 1,900 and includes vaccination, microchip and neutering, and the animal’s health is known. If you do buy, insist on a vaccination record and a microchip, have a vet check the animal within days, and register it with Dubai Municipality. Selling sick or injured animals is a federal offence, with fines of up to AED 200,000.
Welcome your new companion home
Set up before the carrier comes through the door. For a cat you will need cat litter and a litter box, kitten food or adult cat food depending on age, a carrier, and a few toys. Our kitten starter checklist runs through it in order.
Book a vet in the first week even though the shelter has done the health checks, so someone local has your cat on file. See our guides to vet clinics in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and Ajman.
Frequently asked questions
Is adoption at the Warsan shelter free?
Adoption is free, but there is an AED 230 service charge per cat covering vaccination, deworming, microchip, sterilisation and registration.
What are the Warsan animal shelter's opening hours?
The shelter is open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 3pm. Apply online first through DubaiNow, the Dubai Municipality website or the Aleef app.
Can I adopt a dog at the Warsan shelter?
The Warsan shelter rehomes cats. Dubai Municipality dog adoptions go through the veterinary clinic in Al Khawaneej.
Where is the Warsan pet market?
The Birds and Pets Market is in Warsan 3, off Al Awir Road near International City and Dragon Mart. It has about 80 shops, a vet clinic and a pet hotel.
Is it better to buy a pet at Warsan market or adopt?
Adopting from the shelter or a rescue includes vaccination, microchip and neutering, and the animal's health is known. If you buy, ask for vaccination and microchip records and have a vet check the animal straight away.
Fees, hours and rules change. This page names what was checked on 24 October 2026; confirm with Dubai Municipality before you travel. If something here is out of date, email [email protected].
