Al Raha Cats: The volunteers keeping Abu Dhabi's strays fed and healthy

Abu Dhabi: When Gianluca Santangelo laces up his running shoes and heads out along the canals of Al Raha, he isn't just logging kilometers. 

He's counting cats.

It's a habit that started when Gianluca moved to Abu Dhabi from Italy in 2018 for work, and like many newcomers, he found his rhythm in the new city, including a run along the water canals of the Al Raha district. But what he noticed on those runs wasn't just the skyline and sunsets. It was the cats.

"I've always been very passionate about cats and their well-being,” says Gianluca, who grew up around them in Italy. Gianluca noticed how the neighbors leaving out food. Residents topping up water bowls before and after work. All of them acting out of compassion, but alone.

In 2022, Gianluca decided to connect them. "I thought, why not bring together all the people who are already helping cats in the area, but who do not get in touch with each other?"

Wasabi: The community’s mascot

One particular cat played a pivotal role in shaping his path. That cat’s name is Wasabi, who he found one day being bullied by other cats, refusing to eat, and hiding alone in a corner of the neighborhood.

"I kept going there trying to feed him, and slowly over time I managed to gain his trust," he said. "He would see me coming from 20 or 30 meters away, and he would come and say hi and that feeling was so incredible and rewarding.”

Sadly, Wasabi has passed away, but Gianluca says the cat’s memory is still at the heart of what keeps him moving forward.

It all runs on social media

Gianluca started the Instagram account, alraha_cats, and the initiative has since grown to almost 1,500 followers, alongside a WhatsApp group that coordinates volunteers on the ground. Together, the two platforms have turned individual efforts into a structured operation. Al Raha, which covers more than 14 kilometers of residential area, has been divided into different zones, each covered by its own team of volunteers.

 “For example, in one community alone, we have volunteers connected through a WhatsApp group. They coordinate themselves, one person feeds on Monday, another on Tuesday, and so on," Gianluca said. "It distributes the responsibility instead of putting all the weight on one person."

Across the whole of Al Raha, the initiative now counts around 30 active volunteers on the ground, supported by a smaller core team that handles the day-to-day running of the group. Roughly five people in total take on administrative roles, from managing social media to vetting cat adoptions, liaising with veterinary clinics and organizing food distribution.

"Being a volunteer doesn't mean you go and feed only," Gianluca said. "It also means you're willing to invest some of your time in helping with food, helping to trap a cat, offering to provide transportation, fostering or even adopting. There are so many ways in which you can help.”

We have stray cat-problem

The group's core mission is trap-neuter-return (TNR), an internationally recognized method for humanely managing stray cat populations. Cats are trapped, health checked and sterilized by a vet, vaccinated, microchipped and returned to the area they came from. 

"This will allow them to live healthier lives, while helping to control the population and reduce territorial behavior," Gianluca said. The aim is not only to improve the health and welfare of individual cats, but also to manage the population in a humane and sustainable way. So far, the group has sterilized, vaccinated and microchipped more than 120 cats across Al Raha.  Al Raha Cats also maintains a database of all the cats it helps, so that the group can monitor their progress.

To understand what this means from a clinical perspective Gulf News spoke with vet Sarah Ramsey, who highlighted the importance of TNR.

“We cannot adopt our way out of the stray-cat problem. The only sustainable solution is large-scale, consistent TNVR, alongside responsible pet ownership and a zero-tolerance approach to abandonment”

To communities, developers, veterinary clinics, animal welfare groups and authorities, Ramsey has a call to action. “Work together on coordinated TNVR programmes. If you feed a community cat, make sure it is sterilized. If you own a cat, neuter, microchip and register it, and never abandon it. And if a managed colony already exists, don’t remove those cats simply because they are visible. Work with the people managing the colony to sterilize and monitor them”,

“Getting it on the school curriculum is probably a way to start, since education on this matter is crucial”, she added.

The Abu Dhabi law helps the initiative

The initiative operates without a shelter or fixed premises. Gianluca said the group has been careful to stay within Abu Dhabi's regulations, which do not prohibit residents from feeding community cats.

"There is no law that forbids us from feeding cats," he said. “As long as we don't litter and keep the environment clean”.

 Direct cash donations, however, are not permitted under UAE law, so the group has built alternative ways to fund its work. Assistance with veterinary bills is paid directly by sponsors through payment links tied to a specific cat's story, with payments going directly to the vet rather than passing through any individual. Supplies are funded through a public Amazon wish list, which enables donors to ship food, litter boxes, traps and supplies directly to us.

 "It's a very transparent process where people are paying directly to the veterinary clinic for that specific bill or donating food and paying directly through Amazon. We then celebrate the support and show our gratitude through our Instagram page” Gianluca said. 

Work is not free from challenges 

Gianluca said the group's biggest challenge is not medical care or funding, but two main things. One is keeping volunteers engaged over time and the other one is obtaining approvals for permanent, well maintained and organized feeding stations throughout the Al Raha Beach canal areas which are greatly needed

"The support has been overwhelming, and people have been incredibly kind about the work we do and eager to get involved," he said. "But what we lack currently is consistency. People naturally react to what they see - you see a nice photo of a cat, you want to help, but then life gets in the way, and, over time, you forget."

He said the group is now focused on recruiting new volunteers, particularly as some residents have left the country due to summer and seasonal changes.