KOTA KINABALU, SABAH, EAST MALAYSIA-NEWS AND COMMENT: This extraordinary man, who might be educated but who has been homeless for a long time, cannot bear to let homeless and vulnerable cats suffer and so despite being in dire straits himself he helps them out. He lives near a dump site and because he helps stray cats, unscrupulous and exploitative people dump their unwanted cats and dogs onto him to look after them.
These might be ill or old companion animals which owners want to get rid of. It’s pretty uncomfortable reading but that, I’m afraid, is what people sometimes do and it doesn’t just happen in East Malaysia but potentially all over the world. However, it is the first time that I have read of a vulnerable homeless person looking after vulnerable and homeless cats.
In fact, he somehow manages to get some of them vaccinated. He takes him to a veterinarian but people don’t know how he pays the bills. It’s probably that he is being given money by people to look after the stray cats.
And what has happened is that a 22-year-old woman, whose name is Grace Jorest Josip, has come to his aid. She said that some of the cats are kept in old cages as you can see in the photograph while others were left to roam freely. She has noticed that the number of stray cats had increased but through her efforts this deterioration in circumstances has been turned around partly because she has managed to get people to adopt some of the cats.
There are now about a dozen left under his care. She refers to him as her uncle. She said: “However, I have a feeling that he is actually a well-educated man, because when he speaks, he seems knowledgeable about many issues but he never wants to talk about himself much.”
She also said: “The uncle said he must take care of them; his heart breaks and he cannot sleep if he knew of one stray near him that he overlooked.”
Grace appears to have organised the burying of dead animals that were littering the place. It sounds quite awful. She is a fitness trainer and yoga instructor. She, herself, is the kind of person who cannot let vulnerable beings suffer which is why she is helping the uncle as she describes him.
Source: The Star.
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