Hazura spends her own money running the cat shelter.
IT started when a stray dog gave birth to six puppies near the slopes of the Jalan Camar 13 flats in Taman Perling, Johor Baru, in November 2018.
Hazura Zainal, 51, who worked as a maintenance clerk at the flats, said the dog would regularly drop by Jalan Camar 13 looking for food.
Several individual animal rescuers in Johor Baru, she said, gave her tips on how to handle the dog and her litter.
“The flat residents were unhappy and uncomfortable when they found out that I had been feeding the dog,” she said.
On learning that some residents planned to poison the dogs, Hazura called the animal rescuers and managed to save the animals by finding them foster homes within a week.
“It taught me a valuable lesson – that we should treat stray animals with compassion whether they are dogs or cats,” added Hazura.
The episode, she said, also inspired her to start rescuing stray cats from the flats.
In February 2019, Hazura started a cat shelter as some irresponsible residents had been abandoning their cats.
“We had a case where two neighbours were not on talking terms because a cat belonging to one of them gave birth to three kittens,” said Hazura.
Because neither neighbour would admit to owning the cat, Hazura took the cat and kittens to her shelter.
“My efforts have paid off as there are hardly any stray cats at the seven blocks of Jalan Camar 13 flats,” she said.
Hazura, who was not receiving any financial assistance to run the cat shelter, spends about RM800 monthly on cat food and RM250 for cat litter for the 42 cats at the shelter.
“I only rescue stray cats. I take care of them, including getting them spayed and neutered before finding them foster homes or adopters,” she said.
Those wanting to contribute cat food or related items to the shelter can call Hazura at 019-262 3561.
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