Dubai: Rescuing and fostering abandoned cats and kittens has become an integral part of Dubai-resident L. R. Cris’ life.
She told Gulf News: “Throughout my many years of living and working in the UAE, I have devoted all my spare time to rescuing and fostering the abandoned cats and kittens.”
Having moved to the UAE in 1976, Cris has been based in Dubai ever since. But, the interest to help the felines began when she moved into a villa in the Jumeirah 1 area in 1996 and found some resident stray cats, who would live in or around her home. She initially had two cats of her own and started feeding some of the strays.
She said: “I don’t know how word spread and soon I started to find abandoned cats at my doorstep. Every morning, I would open the gates of my villa and water the garden. I suppose that while my back was turned, a person would walk up and leave a cat. On most occasions, the cats or kittens were wrapped in a scarf or inside a box. I have even had people knock on my door and hand over kittens or cats to me, saying they can no longer keep them as they have lost their job or cannot afford to pay to relocate them.”
In all this time, Cris has never refused or turned away any of the visitors.
She said: “Once I find a cat or it has been handed over to me, I would take it to the veterinary clinic and get it checked. The cats would be fully vaccinated, microchipped, neutered and dewormed as necessary. All the vet fees were paid for by myself and I worked hard to find good homes for them. At the initial stages, I wasn’t aware of many animal charities in Dubai so didn’t know who to ask for help. Whatever cat or kitten was left outside my villa, I kept. Ultimately, I ended up having 20 cats at one time. It was an old villa, with a big garden, and the landlord didn’t mind.”
In 2009, Cris had to relocate to another area. In the first few years of living here, there weren’t many cats showing up at her house. This is when Cris met Montserrat Martin, the founder of a Dubai-based animal charity group called Friends of Animals.
She said: “I happened to meet Martin at a vet clinic and we got talking. I explained my situation to her and she told me about her charity group and offered to help. We would take some photos of the cats and spread the word to get them adopted. Our association started in this manner and Martin is still being very helpful.”
After moving into her new home, the situation soon changed for Cris as more and more cats started to be dumped at her doorstep.
She said: “The longer I lived there, the more animals were left outside my house. In the past three years, between 30 to 70 cats were abandoned each year. During 2014 alone, over 75 animals were abandoned and homes have been found for just over 50 per cent of these. I would take them to the vet, take their photos and upload them online for adoption. Any candidates that came had to go through a screening process. I wanted to make sure they would provide good homes for the cats. I haven’t gone on leave for three years because I want to help out as much as possible.”
Things got harder when Cris had to relocate to a smaller place this year due to financial constraints.
She said: “We had to relocate to a smaller accommodation, which means there will not be sufficient space to keep this number of animals. There aren’t enough funds or time so that we can take the cats, pay for them to be neutered and treated and then wait six months for the feline to be adopted. Some are typical the Arabian Mau, and not everyone wants to adopt them. Everyone wants the “cute” cats. I didn’t want to put any healthy cats to sleep.”
We spoke to Martin about the situation and she said: “This is a woman that has absolutely no regrets. After dedicating a huge part of her life, time, effort, tears and money if you ask her if she has any regrets, she will say that she would do it all over again and would not change a single moment.”
There are still 30 kittens and cats looking for a permanent home. All the cats are neutered, dewormed and vaccinated. The group is not seeking monetary assistance, but instead for people who are ready to adopt or even foster one of these beautiful loving felines. For more details on how to adopt any of the cats, send an email to info@friendsofanimalsdxb.com.
