Abu Dhabi: A self-appointed saviour of stray cats in Abu Dhabi does more than justice to his sobriquet ‘Cat Ebrahim.’
Indian expat Ebrahim Ahmad, 48, feeds hundreds of cats with food bought from his own money.
“They are like my own kids. I always worry for them. It pains me to see them hungry on the streets,” said Ebrahim, who works as a public relations officer at a private firm and draws a salary of Dh4,500 per month.
Man on a mission
Every day after work, ‘Cat Ebrahim’, as he is known, sets out on a mission to feed as many feline friends as possible.
Hailing a taxi from Hamdan Street where he lives, or hitching a ride in a friend’s vehicle, he reaches Capital Garden on Khalifa Street without fail every evening - his black bag stuffed with food.
As soon as he arrives, dozens of cats emerge from behind the bushes at the snap of his fingers.
And within a few seconds, the felines are all over him. “See, they were waiting for me. They know that I could be a bit late, but I will always come,” says Ebrahim, lovingly petting, stroking and cuddling a few of the kittens.
He picks up a grey cat with white patches and begins talking to her. “Why are you so dull? Are you still unwell?” he enquires and then whips out a medicine bottle from his bag and gives the cat a few drops. “She has not been keeping well since the last week,” he tells us.
After Capital Garden, Ebrahim moves to the next location. There are hundreds of stray cats all over the city - at the Corniche, in Khalidiya, near Hamdan Street, behind mosques. They are all waiting for him.
Ebrahim, who is married with five kids aged between five and 23, says his love for cats goes back to his childhood days in Kerala.
“Even as a kid, I was obsessed with cats, dogs and birds. I used to bring home abandoned kittens and foster them,” he recalls.
He said as he grew older, his affinity towards cats developed into a sense of responsibility. Today, Ebrahim who has been living in the UAE for over two decades, looks after more than a dozen stray cats and kittens at his modest room behind Hamdan Street.
Every few days he gets dozens of cats sterilised and takes sick ones to the vet for treatment. His selfless love for cats has earned him the nickname Cat Ebrahim.
“Everybody in the neighbourhood calls me by this name.” The municipality’s initiative to drive away stray cats from the city worries him. “I am not against it. They can take away cats. But I want them to spare the mother cats who have kittens. Last month, at least 12 kittens died after their mothers were taken away,” he said.
The insensitivity of his fellow beings also saddens Ebrahim. “People just don’t care. Cleaners and kids who play on the street often throw away the food I keep for cats.
“Even the Quran teaches us to be kind towards animals. I am not a rich man, but I believe I have Allah’s blessings because I care for the cats.” he said.
