In what seems to be an an oddity, a woman in Oman has taken the love for pets to the extreme by keeping 12 dogs and 480 cats.
She currently spends $8000 per month in taking care of the animals which are mostly stray and ferrals.
The 51-year-old retired civil servant whose name is Maryam al-Balushi says the upkeep of the animals is made possible by donations from her friends and supporters.
Maryam's story is unique since she wasn't initially interested in pets until her son brought home a small Persian cat in 2008.
According to Maryam: “It all began in 2008 when my son bought a small Persian cat. Like many mothers, I refused to look after it as I did not like animals and my son did not pay it much attention or look after its hygiene, but soon I found myself totally immersed. I took care of her entirely, feeding her, bathing her and spending a lot of time with her.”
Her interest however, took a different turn in 2011 when Maryam experienced severe depression. During that hard time, his son's cat was always by her side.
Immediately after her recovery, Maryam began to allow stray cats into her home. She spent most of her time in caring for them. Over time, the animals began to mate and gave birth. When their numbers increased, Maryam's desire to allow more stray cats into her home also increased. And today, the pets in her home are over four hundred.
Maryam said: “God gave man the mind, with which he can think, and the tongue, so that if he is sick, he can seek treatment, and if he is hungry, he can ask for food, but the animal is silent and cannot speak, even if it is in mortal danger. Official and civil institutions and governments provide their services and donations to people, but there is no party that cares about the poor animals that don’t have any voice, or any party to provide them with assistance, and there are also no laws that protect them, especially in the Gulf countries.”
Maryam's journey wasn't so smooth. In fact, she was reported to authorities by her neighbours for keeping so many pets. She later scaled through that hurdle in 2014 when she got her own home.
Another difficult she encountered was that of funding. She took care of the animals by herself initially but today, most of the donations for the animals are from her social media fans.
She said: “My message to the community is to treat animals with compassion. Some people do not want them in their homes, they do not want them in their gardens, they do not want them near their cars, and they do not want them near the litter box, so where should they go? How will they eat? I ask these people: Was the earth created for us alone, or did God’s creatures share the earth and its bounties with us? So I say: Have mercy, have mercy, and when you do that, you will have done it because it is a moral and human duty that we must offer to everyone who lives on this planet.”
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