Loving homes sought for abandoned cats
By PAULINE ALMEIDA
Malay Mail, 8 Nov 2005

Kuala Lumpur, Nov 8: Thanks to British expatriate Mark Harris, 30 cats abandoned at a squatter settlement in Ampang now have a chance of being adopted.

Harris said the cats were left behind when their owners moved to a low-cost settlement.

Harris, who lives near the site at Jalan Mesra, off Jalan Ampang, said he alerted the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) about the abandoned felines.

“I happened to walk over there and noticed the cats running all over the place. I began feeding them with cat food,  including  one  bag  of   Friskies,

daily for the past three weeks,” said Harris, 49, an art director from England when met at the site yesterday.

Harris, who has three dogs and four cats, hopes the cats will be taken up by the public under the SPCA’s ‘Friends of Felix’ adoption programme. The cats will be neutered and spayed before adoption.

“The cats should be adopted by people who are concerned about their welfare and not someone who just wants to give them a home.

“Animal lovers can look after one or two cats,” said Harris who has been living in the country for 20 years.

It was reported in The Sunday Mail that one of the cats, named Felix, is being used as a mascot for the programme. Felix will not be put up for adoption.

The public can adopt the cats between 2pm and 4pm this Saturday at the site of the former squatter settlement in Jalan Mesra, off Jalan Ampang.

SPCA inspector Sabrina Yeap said cats which are not adopted will be sent to Noah’s Ark, an animal sanctuary in Pekan Nenas in Johor.