The Cat Man of Aleppo: A crowd-sourced animal sanctuary in east Aleppo teaches compassion: ‘To love

[Little Tich]

the small, weak cats is to love everything’

Source: Syria Direct, AUG. 30, 2016

AMMAN: “Every cat has a story,” says Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, a full-time ambulance driver and part-time cat caretaker living in rebel-held east Aleppo.

There’s Sukhoi, named for a Russian fighter plane, “because he’s so fast.” There’s Zorro the Noble, who defended one of the cats “when the others attacked her.”

“And then, there’s al-Baghdadi, who kills the other cats and takes their food,” earning him the name of the Islamic State leader.

Aljaleel recounted these and other tales of the more than 170 cats, two dogs and other animals that he feeds and houses in a cat shelter—the first of its kind in Syria—in the Masaken Hanano neighborhood of east Aleppo, one of the epicenters of the Syrian war.

How does Aljaleel run an animal shelter in a warzone? The answer is that he is not alone. An online network of supporters around the world is donating thousands of dollars to help not only the stray animals of east Aleppo, but also the humans experiencing the shortages and trauma of blockade and bombardment.



“The edges of the shelter have been shelled. None of the cats were injured, but the explosion panicked and scared them.”


Distributing sweets to east Aleppo children during the July blockade.




“New cats are always coming to the shelter, bringing others with them.”






Read more: http://syriadirect.org/news/a-crowd-sourced-animal-sanctuary-in-east-aleppo-teaches-compassion-%E2%80%98to-love-the-small-weak-cats-is-to-love-everything%E2%80%99/

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The cat man of Aleppo - BBC News

https://www.youtube.com/user/bbcnews

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Daily Life of Cats in Syria FB Page (lotsa pics of cats):
https://www.facebook.com/SyrianCats/

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Il Gattaro D 'Aleppo FB Page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1509943749305018/

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Mohammad Alaa Jaleel's FB Page (Arabic)
https://ar-ar.facebook.com/people/Mohammad-Alaa-Aljaleel/100009229294674

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. k&r

[Warpy]

2. Those cats are all working cats

Even cats being well fed will still hunt and keep down rats and mice that spread horrible things like murine typhus.

[REP]

6. Not just helping stop disease, either

Looking at the photos, their company is bringing at least a moment of happiness to people who really need it, and that's as valuable as helping stop rodent-borne diseases.

[Warpy]

7. Happyiness is a warm, purring kitty with an itchy chin

Give them a good scratch and they'll love you forever.

[narnian60]

3. Oh, my.

What a great man.

[ryan_cats]

4. A man

A man after my own heart.

Seeing such compassion to cats in a war zone makes my day.

Not only that, it appears he is spreading the value of love to other humans, this is a wonderful person.

[Heidi]

5. Kick!