It was 2017 and I was working in another shelter in Giza. I already had the strong impulse to start a shelter of my own, but at that moment it was only still an idea I needed to make a reality.
One day in March that year, we got a desperate message about a specific cat. This cat was located in Alexandria and was in very bad shape. The previous owner was used to let him out and didn’t really care its wellbeing. The person who called told us the cat was bleeding in the face..it had a very bad wound that looks like he lost an eye in fight with strays.
When the owner saw his cat in such bad shape he decided he didn’t want to take care of the cat anymore. The cat was abandoned in the street, crying in desperation because the owner didn’t allow him back in and because of the terrible wound in his face. One neighbor knew about the shelter I was working at and called, pleading for help for the poor cat.
I didn’t think about it twice and went to pick it up. The animal could barely stand on its feet and had lost a lot of blood. You could clearly see it was in terrible pain. I took it back to the shelter, but the person in charge of this shelter didn’t do much to help the cat. I was pleading with her to help with the cat’s eye treatment but I didn’t get much help. This is when I was confronted with a very raw reality I was getting aware of the previous months: in this shelter the cats were not there to be helped, but they were in the hands of a person without compassion and who only wanted to take economical advantage for her own benefit.
It was in that moment when the idea of starting Zee Animal Shelter become stronger. I really needed to do something because I really wanted to help cats to reach a better life. I started the process…Harty gave me the last push I needed.
I talked with the woman in the shelter but it was very difficult to get Harty and another 10 cats I wanted to rescue from her. But I finally succeeded.
I moved the cats at that time to a house where all these wonderful dreams of a shelter to truly help cats became a reality. Zee Shelter was born. Harty started getting the medical treatment he desperately required and he got better. He is such a strong, beautiful boy.
I am proud to say Harty nursed back to health as well the other cats. Then the first miracle happened and Harty was re-homed, adopted by an incredible family in UK and living the good life since.
Thank you, Harty, you will always have an important place in my heart. It was you, your pain, who moved me to leave that place. To look at your face was the last push I needed to start Zee with the heart full of love and striving to help more cats in suffering. Thank you, Harty live well, live long.
