Animals

The ‘cat man of Syria’ who feeds hundreds left stranded by war


He makes sure the cats left behind as their owners flee don’t go hungry (Picture: DPA / PA / Reuters)

Meet Mohammed Alaa Aljaleel – otherwise known as ‘the cat man of Syria’.

And now, amid the war, he makes sure that hundreds of felines don’t go hungry.

Before the start of the war, Aljaleel was an electrician working and living in Aleppo, a city in the west of Syria, according to his website.

But when the war began, instead of fleeing the city when it was attacked and bombed, he decided to stay and help those left behind by becoming an ambulance driver.

In 2012, he started to feed the abandoned and stray cats in the streets, as many people had fled and left their pets behind.

Soon more and more cats started to arrive to be fed, and it became Aljaleel’s dream to open a proper cat refuge.

After lots of press coverage he was approached by Alessandra Abidin in 2015, who helped him launch a social media campaign to raise money.

Soon, the House of Cats Ernesto was built and children were invited to visit the cats as a form of pet therapy to cope amid the worsening situation in Syria.

Mohammed Alaa Aljaleel is also known as ‘the cat man of Syria’ (Picture: DPA / PA)
He started to feed the abandoned and stray cats in the streets in 2012 (Picture: Reuters)
It became Aljaleel’s dream to open a proper cat refuge (Picture: DPA / PA)
His sanctuary for Syrian cats, called Ernestos Paradise, is now home to more than 200 felines (Picture: TheAleppoCatMen / Facebook)
Aljaleel recently joked about breaking the coronavirus curfew to open a ‘restaurant’ for cats (Picture: TheAleppoCatMen / Facebook)
The sanctuary was instrumental last year in saving a number of animals from the ruins of Aleppo Zoo (Picture: DPA / PA)

At one point, he was feeding and helping around 1,000 cats.

Yet a year later, the horrific bombings of Aleppo reduced the shelter to ruins, with many of the cats dying as a result of the blast.

Apologising to his community on Facebook, Aljaleel rescued a handful of survivors and fled Aleppo.

Yet through support and donations from the group, a new piece of land in a rural area of Aleppo was purchased.

Today, a new animal shelter called ‘Ernestos Paradise’ accommodates 200 stray cats, and also has a full-time vet and clinic.

Pet therapy has restarted and Aljaleel is still doing his best to care for helpless victims of war, both human and feline, and throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

This week he joked on social media: ‘Our restaurant “the thousand and one Syrian cats” is the only one who does not respect the curfew time but continues to serve meals even late at night.’

Syria is currently under a strict curfew due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, which means restaurants and bars cannot be open in the evening.

Last year, the sanctuary was instrumental in saving a number of animals from the ruins of Aleppo Zoo.

He cared for the survivors – including two tigers, lions, bears, hyenas and two dogs – until they were well enough to be transported to the border and rehomed abroad.

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