Ailurophile man of war-ravaged Idlib takes care of stray cats

By Ahmet Karaahmet and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – An animal lover in Syria’s war-ravaged Idlib takes care of once-adopted cats that were left behind when scores of people fled Syria due to regime attacks.

Hani Yasin, 26, is looking after 35 cats at his home despite being unemployed.

Yasin feeds the cats he collects on the street and tries to treat the sick ones.

“Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is to go to the meat and chicken shops and try to find food for the cats,” he told Anadolu Agency.

Yasin said that he had been displaced with his five cats due to the attacks of the Assad regime.

After a cease-fire agreement between Russia and Turkey, Yasin returned to his home. “Here, I give food and water to stray cats in my house. I provide a place for them to sleep.”

The Syrian man said he had difficulty in buying food for the cats due to financial trouble. “I collect leftover pieces from chicken shops and feed my cats. Sometimes I share the food my mother made for me with the cats.”

Yasin asked for help from animal lovers to get medicine for his cats. “We are trying to treat sick cats by supplying them with our limited means.”

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings, which have frequently been violated by the Syrian regime and its allies.