Syria Cat Rescue (Aleppo)
This is a slide show of 9 pictures, five seconds per picture. If you’d like to pause it simply place your cursor over it.
Note: Update: this page was written two years ago. I have re-dated it to bring the article forward to October 9th 2016 because this cat rescue work is still acutely relevant even more so. I have not heard about this guy since. I have searched the internet for an update without success. Aleppo is being destroyed by the Assad regime’s bombs and Russian rockets. Just recently hospitals have been bombed and medical staff killed. Over the past few months hundreds of children have been killed. There is outrage in the West. The UN talks. America complains. Nothing changes.
What are the chances of this guy being alive today? What are the chances of the cats being alive? I would have thought that it was quite likely that they are all dead but we don’t know. It is said that Aleppo will be completely destroyed by Christmas 2016. That may be an exaggeration but….it will be destroyed. This wonderful man might get out and become a refugee but the cats won’t.
This is war torn, war weary Aleppo, Syria. We hear of nothing about it but destruction, barrel bombs, atrocities, aggression, suffering and mayhem.
And here is a ambulance driver using his own money to feed 150 street cats. Wow.
I wondered what was happening to the cats of Syria in this ghastly mess of a war. Well, now I know what is happening to at least 150 of them; the lucky ones.
- The place: Masaken Hanano (abandoned area of Aleppo)
- The man: Alaa
- His occupation: ambulance driver
- The cost: $4 daily
What about the cats? Well, as is expected they are dirty and dusty. They don’t look too unhealthy though. There a quite a few van-type patterns and ginger tabby and whites. Bicolors are common too. It looks a fairly typical street cat scene, one you might see warm climate countries such as those surrounding the Mediterranean.
This guy deserves all the praise he can get.
I feel I owe it to my grandparents who helped young Jewish people during ww2 by hiding them from the nazis in their house and risking their lives. I’m very proud of my family and now doing my bit by helping other people. Join our group please xxx
Spread the word please! The power of social media is amazing and we now have people from all over the globe donating, sending messages of support to Alaa and his crew which really keeps them going. Alaa posts pictures and videos daily on our page, he has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace award 2017 x
Hi all! Alaa is still going strong! Currently the cat shelter is under threat though and Alaa and his friends are looking for a safe place to transfer the animals. I’m one of the people helping out, all the help goes through Alessandra Abidin based in Italy and Syria Charity which owns a hospital in Aleppo. Donations help not just the animals but the people as well, children, women, elderly, anyone in need of help. We can and we must help. Thanks guys, Marta Williamson/UK . Search IL GATTARO D’ALEPPO on Facebook or Twitter xxx
What wonderful news and thank you so much for updating us. Fantastic. Thanks Marta.
Ironically, I was recently thinking about this man because I had put a link to his story on my Facebook page. I hadn’t known his name until just now when I read your story about him. I worry for him and these cats. Until this damned war, these cats and he were just living their lives. I hate wars! Pointless!!!
May he be watched over and guarded. May the cats he watches be protected. If it is their destiny to die during this war, then I pray that they go swiftly and with as little pain as possible.
Because we all die, I hope that he and these cats are well rewarded once they get to Heaven. He is truly a Cat Guardian and he deserves recognition for his duty to these cats. Thank you to the person who took those pictures and his story and put them online.
To me, it’s mind boggling to think that without the Internet we’d never know each other here on your site, nor would we know of the plight that this man and these cats are going through.
Prayers that he is okay and that the cats are streetwise enough to survive. I sad that picture with him and them and wished I was a billionaire. I would take him and all of the cats and relocate them to safety. Sickens me to think pets being abandoned and of animals in zoos being abandoned. War is good for nothing!
Er, that was supposed to read that I saw not that I sad the picture of him and the cats!!! Wow, thanks for nothing, autocorrect! š
I have similar feelings about this man and his cats. I hope and pray they survive the war but it seems unlikely as the bombing has intensified over the past months. The whole city is being destroyed. Thanks for visiting.
I’m not sure about her hearing. Seems to hear but not so well. Her white kitten Messalina had the BAER test and was 100% OK.
In Paphos there seemed to be a variety of both short and longhaired cats. This is Sophie and the black cat is Merlin, whom I also adopted in Cyprus. (When I split up with my ex, he kept Merlin.)
Sorry, it wouldn’t seem to accept the two photos on the same comment.
Michele are you still in Cyprus? You may have told me and if so sorry to ask you.
Both Sophie and Merlin are lovely cats. Nice to see them.
Hi Michele. Yes it’s the Malcolm Cat Sanctuary. That video is still available on their FB page if you scroll down far enough. Maybe you should apply to be a member. There is a lot going on there and the photos and videos are amazing. I get the impression that there are more LH’d cats in Cyprus percentage-wise than anywhere else but also I am told there are not as many as there used to be. That’s why I snapped up those kittens. Did you know that the cats of Cyprus have the same DNA markers as Ankara Zoo cats? The LH’d ones are the genuine Turkish Angoras or Turkish Vans depending on their coat pattern. Well that’s the cat fancy way of seeing them To me they are all Anatolian LHs. This is a photo of Isadora, my 100% Cyprus cat with the same genetic markers. as my Minos from the Ankara Zoo. There are no moggies in Cyprus as many people like to say. . They are super cats.
Totally awesome cat. She looks like the Turkish Angoras in Ankara Zoo. Isadora is truly exotic. Good name too. Is her hearing OK?
Thousand thanks for Michael who has shared this news to us all <3
Alaa is a great man on earth specially who is feeding the free roaming STATE PROPERTY. He seems to me a lovly caretaker of these tiny fellows <3.
Aaaah! The war in SYRIA š I hate wars. and in this subject I wrote an urdu article, what not only war can damage human beings but also the population of free roaming cats and dogs.
It is very necessary to feed the free roaming cats of every country and do some serious efforts to maintain their population without any cruelty( means killing them or hurting them to death).
Hats off for Alaa š and may Allaah protect him and his cats, amin <3 <3 <3
I always think of the pets, the domestic dogs and cats who are killed, injured or neglected in war and the street cats and dogs who are killed or injured or starve because everyone has left. Then there are zoos in which the animals die of starvation. All because of stupid human behaviour. My god we are terrible sometimes.
Well done Michele.
I would say these cats are typical of East Mediterranean Anatolian cat populations. The high incidence of the ‘O’ (orange gene) together with the ‘S’ (white spotting gene) sets them apart from cats in Europe and America. They look very much like the cats of S Cyprus. You can compare them with the cats in this video taken at a cat sanctuary near Akrotiri- Limassol. The higher number of black cats at the sanctuary may reflect the lessened interest that people have in that colour, and prefer to dump them. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=733493110035804&set=o.206019105304&type=2&theater
Incidentally several cat breeder friends recently went to Turkey looking for long-haired cats but were disappointed. They found mostly SH’d, sterilised, sick, or really wild cats. In just 1 week I located a small colony in Girne, N Cyprus with 8 LH’d kittens, 3 LH’d adults, and in the city centre 2 LH’d adults and 3 LH’d kittens. I adopted 5 of them for the treasure that they are. I think the Ottomans brought their best cats to Cyprus. You have seen photos of some of them.
That Syrian gentleman is doing admirable work and deserve all the help he can get.
Harvey I can’t view the video, but is it the Malcolm Cat Sanctuary? I remember it from when I lived in Cyprus.
In Paphos I cared for a small group of stray and feral cats and two of those were longhaired. My own cat Sophie is longhaired and was rescued there as a street kitten.
Does anyone know where or how I could make a donation to help this man feed these cats?
I am afraid we don’t know how to do that. I would seem almost impossible to help because there must be a breakdown in normal services in that place.
I’ve discovered the photographer’s name is Hosam Katan and I’ve joined the growing number of people who’ve posted on his Facebook page asking if it’s possible to make donations.
There’s a lot of love and support out there for Alaa.
Bless you, Michelle.
There is support for him and we can see why. He is a bit of a hero. Awesome work in support of cat welfare. He deserves all the praise and support he can get.
Please let me know how to help him. I would love to help this man.
You are very nice and caring. Thanks for commenting. I am not sure it will be viable to help him. I’ll see if I can do some research on it today to find a way to contact him. But it it almost certain that I will fail.