The Dubai woman behind 500 cat rescues and 60 happy homes overseas: A mission of love, healing and caring

How do you not get distracted by cat photos?

When Theresia Gollner from Dubai cheerfully showed me all the cats she had saved over the past few years, the first few minutes of our conversation was a series of excited squeals, I will admit. Gollner’s excitement is infectious, and so are the stories behind every feline face. And most of these cats, have found a home safely, over here and abroad, owing to Gollner’s efforts.

“I think I get it from my parents,” she says. Gollner grew up in Austria, practically on a farm, with a pony, two donkeys, sheep and an overwhelming love for animals. That love only intensified when she moved to a small island in Indonesia in 2015. “There was only one small charity organisation,” she recalls. Moved by the plight of abandoned animals, she began bringing them to rescue centres, getting them treated, or arranging for TNR, trap, neuter, and return.

And so, this determination to help animals continued as she moved to Dubai in 2020, during the pandemic, while fostering a mother and kittens. And since then, for the past 4-and-a-half years, she has been fostering, rescuing cats, or getting them for TNR, sending them overseas to comfortable homes. Till date, Gollner has successfully sent over 60 cats overseas, to safe and comfortable homes. As she emphasises: "I spayed and neutered at least 500 cats over 4 years since 2020 and treated them if they needed it. I have around 60 cats overseas, around 10 in the UAE."

She notes: "I don’t generally feed strays. I do have a feeding station outside my house for any hungry cat, and another for four strays at my workplace. But in my area, almost every second household is already feeding them. I don’t want the cats to become dependent on me. For me, TNR is more important, because it helps prevent overpopulation."

She has stories: And the stories come in the form of numerous photos, like an invisible photo album, with each cat and the story of how she found  them. “My latest rescues are Leo and Cleo, and they are flying to Zurich on July 22,” says Gollner, sharing a photo of two cats sitting comfortably in a basket. Gollner herself, has adopted a three-legged cat named Shiro after fostering him.

Many of Gollner’s rescues are spontaneous, she keeps an eye out for any animal in pain. One example is Fynn, a cat she spotted walking along the middle section of a highway on her way to the vet. She nursed him back to health. She often shares before-and-after photos of these animals: malnourished and wounded in one frame, then healthy, groomed, and curled up in their new homes in the next. One especially heartbreaking case was Lulu, a pregnant cat hit by a car and abandoned on the sidewalk. The kittens did not survive.

She also remembers the case of Rosalie, one of the most painful cases she rescued. "She had FIP, horrible teeth, a rare skin disease and deformed toes. She did so well, but due to so many underlying issues she passed away from pneumonia most likely half a year after I rescued her," explains Gollner.

FIP stands for Feline Infectious Peritonitis, a rare but often fatal viral disease that affects cats. It’s caused by a mutation of the feline coronavirus (FCoV), a virus that is very common, especially in multi-cat environments like shelters.

Not every rescue ends with an adoption. Some, like Vassa, become too attached, or too fragile, to be rehomed.

Recalling the treatment of Vassa she found in Deira last year, Gollner explains, “I took her to get spayed, she had to have eleven teeth extracted as they had turned bad. I treated and released her, and then I took her back as I found that she was in terrible condition, owing to FIP. She was treated for three months. After beating FIP, she came to me and got along with all my cats. Her liver value was not great and she was on liver supplements, and now they are better. She is completely attached to me. Ten days ago, I had a long conversation with a lady who wanted her in Canada, who agreed she should stay with me. There is no way I can send her. I think she is also sensitive to temperature, so Canada might not be ideal.”

“I post on Facebook and Instagram,” she explains. “I don’t really look locally, but sometimes I get lucky. Every adopter fills out a questionnaire, and we have a call. They also pay an adoption fee that covers sterilisation, microchipping, and vaccinations. If they can’t afford that, how will they manage medical bills later?”

For international adoptions, she partners with a German rescue group to issue official papers. “Locally, I manage everything myself,” she adds.

Gollner also explains next campaign: 100 cats roaming on the streets of Abu Dhabi, abandoned and alone. As previous animal rescuers have told us: It’s sadly, a common sight. People tend to take up the responsibility of a cat or a dog, and when they leave the country, they look to give them away, owing to travel complexities. Some, however, leave them on the streets, gas stations, which leaves the animals vulnerable to traffic, disease and so many other ailments.