Ruth Stevenson

Only staying for the cats.

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Today we started something that we have wanted to do for a long, long time.

As you know, all our male cats are neutered as soon as they are old enough, or as soon as they are ready to leave quarantine to join the sanctuary.

Well, today we have started to spay our females.

Today, Dr Mohammad spayed our first female cat for several years, and we hope to keep going until all our females are spayed, and free from worries about pyrometra, mammary tumours and being in season.

We have wanted to start this for such a long time.

We wanted to be able to mark the females that have been spayed so they were easily identifiable.

Chips and readers aren't available here. Tattoos are not acceptable, so we have decided to ear tip, which is a common method for marking spayed cats in other countries.

There is a cost to this operation - for anaesthetic and aftercare, and we would be very, very grateful if you could support this new initiative.

We have almost 2000 females to be spayed. It will take time but we want the best lives possible for our Ernestos ladies.

Your support is very welcome and always so appreciated.

https://t.co/e7PUFjhBqy

https://t.co/lFOrY8fk5H

https://t.co/CF2PQc9g5l

https://t.co/M40t0SCuHc -

Our bank account is-

Banca Sella SPA,

Via Italia 2, Biella, 13900, Italia.

Account name -House of cats Ernesto

IBAN IT73E0326822300052461720340

[Ruth Stevenson @ruthste62]

@theAleppoCatmen Beautiful… the longer the better!

Can i please recommend this site for raising awareness. I think it may be very helpful for you ❤️❤️‍🩹

https://t.co/z6EKupzcIS

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Please share our appeal with your friends and ask them to share also.
Our nightmares are back
Our neighbors have started attacking each other since this morning. We hoped that they were just words and verbal threats and that war would never come again, neither to us nor near us. Because when a war begins nearby, even if death and destruction do not affect us, the markets and borders are affected. For us now the nightmare of having to stock up on food returns because if these or those launch a few too many missiles, we cannot move and so this week we have to run to stock up on food and water. Can you help us? We wish all countries to have peace. Please only send words of support for animals and leave political sympathies far from here. Let's only think about how to feed our animals.
Our love and affection also goes to Charlotte and her friends in Kabul, we understand you very well and hope you are all well.
Please help us to start collect foods reserves because we are going through hard times in Middle East next days .
Links are in the comments because meta is hidden the links of the NGO 😖

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Here the cats rescued from Damascus, some are hidden and scared, now they will be treated and are about to have a new life, hopefully happy and full of food, love, care! Thanks to those who are helping us, your affection and support fills our hearts with pride and pushes us to always give our best.

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Dear friends of Ernesto, recently some friends have asked us some questions and this made us think that perhaps the time has come for a little update and explanations on the situation in Syria. As you know the war is currently concentrated in some areas. There is fighting and bombings from time to time.
With free movement we have started to receive animals in our clinic from many cities in Syria - places that we could not reach before. Our fame as a prepared team, pushes people to make even long journeys and trips to bring their pet to us. Especially for sterilization, and obviously also because we offer the services free of charge in the clinic.
Thanks also to our collaboration with Wtg, Welttierschutzgesellschaft e v. We must thank them for the important support they offer to the clinic.
As regards the sanctuary: we have often said that we have reached a very high number of cats, all saved from dangerous situations. We have never decided to take cats casually just as a hobby, but every cat welcomed into Ernestos is a cat that was a victim of abuse, war, hunger, disease.
It is true that the world is full of problems now and there are fewer donors. We too suffer because of this and every month is a battle, but it is also true that in some countries where there have been years of war, animal welfare needs a long time to be re-established. Our colleagues who work in Afghanistan or Palestine or Ukraine etc. are faced, like us, every day with the choice of saying " No, I can't" or having to save a fragile life. When it comes to animals in danger of death we have never closed our hearts and doors, because the country is still far from guaranteeing dignity and safety to animals. Government policy is to poison and shoot cats and dogs to solve the stray problem, which is why we often carry out awareness campaigns, vaccinations, sterilizations, and sometimes the only solution is to take in these animals even temporarily. We know that it can make us lose the few economic resources we have, but we believe that a good deed always generates a good response and destiny will help us. Which is why dry food and vaccine campaigns are very important to us, even if we sometimes regret having to ask for help.
We know that in Syria we are often the only source of salvation for animals, and we think that you, our friends can see the great commitment we put in every day for these innocent souls - and that is why we always turn to you to ask for help.
Please help us with this campaign for dried food.

https://t.co/l5gAY6tWW6

https://t.co/v0KAWHYDhb

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Dear Ernesto’s friend and supporters,
Once again we are asking for your important attention and help.
Because our dried food store room is almost empty and it's time to restock our reserve asap.
Dry food is very important and necessary and vital for our animals and their health. It is one of our 3 meals a day and a favourite midnight snack for a lot of the cats.
We also need to have enough bags to take with us to Tartous. We intend to take a mobile clinic there in the next couple of weeks.
This town, like so many others was badly affected throughout the war years.
The need for our help for the animals living there is high and we like to leave a small amount of dried food with the people who bring their pets to us.
Donations this month are going slowly and we are not able yet to cover these costs and this emergency
We also received a call for a delicate rescue mission in a military zone in Damascus, where cats need immediately to be evacuated from a very dangerous area, and of course dry food is very important to capture these poor cats and save their lives.
We need to ask you for urgent help.
Please could you buy us a bag of food.
Food is life and we need your help to keep these small lives safe.
We found bags of dry food with 15 kg and price is between 25 to 35 $
We are looking for the best type
We need your help to buy these and you can decide to help us buying 1 or more or less bags to help Syrian cats.
https://t.co/l5gAY6tWW6

https://t.co/v0KAWHYDhb

[Ernesto���s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Our residents Cats Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Cats in Syria, are on a mission today.

They have heard about the poor sick cats in quarantine. They have heard about the cats in the towns and villages who are dying because we don't have any vaccines.

So, this morning they all had a good wash and brush up, to show you what cared for cats can look like in Syria.

We really are desperate to start vaccinating. A lot of cats are succumbing to viral illnesses and chlamydia.

Please support our appeal to buy vaccines.

Please give a gift of life, for Christmas.

You can donate here -

https://t.co/TiWoOGYbQV

and you can also donate at JustGiving. Just leave a message with your donation 'Cat vax' -

https://t.co/v0KAWHYDhb

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Yesterday this beautiful ginger cat arrived from a town 300 kilometres away.
He had been in an accident and was battered and bruised. Fortunately it appears there are no bone breaks, but there is a badly sprained leg.
His wounds were treated and he is now receiving pain relief. He will stay with us at Ernestos and join the ginger gang.

Donations are very welcome for his meds and treatment and on going care.
Could we ask for donations for him to go to our Justgiving link please?
We really, really would like this fundraiser to reach the initial target by Christmas.🤞🏻

https://t.co/v0KAWHYDhb

[Jay the monk @JohnDea0844]

@theAleppoCatmen 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[Bradford Cat Watch Rescue @BCWRkittens]

Whisper Update
Its 12 weeks since Whisper arrived with us following being swung round by her legs and tail by CHILDREN!
Sustaining multiple fractures required complex and "Fiddly as Fluff " emergency surgery it would seem that Whisper is such a fighter.

[Ruth Stevenson @ruthste62]

@Edwina_Currie Where do you think billionaires get their money from? They NEVER run out of other people’s money.

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

In these recent days we have been wondering about our future, we made some appeal for help with no responso, so we feel that people have lost interest in our mission , and unfortunately with our reserves we are preparing to close everything in January more or less , and for two days we have been evaluating the idea of ​​saying that this mission no longer makes sense to exist because we don't feel supported, as if the war ended has given us life resources, but it is not like that, we have only stopped dying from bombs, but the hundreds of mouths are still here asking for care, food, vaccines, etc.
but today this Syrian / Spanish boy called us asking for help for a dog... and by helping him and the dog we realized how important our presence in Syria is, that this mission cannot stop now, we hope that in many of you this mission has this effect of wanting to go forward and believe in it as it did in us.

https://t.co/eksORnmNzw
We need to reach our goal for November if you can help us 🙏

https://t.co/zT4WEXOb5v

https://t.co/lFOrY8fk5H

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Another beautiful video from our team in Idlib, Syria.

Please don't think that much has improved since the liberation of Syria.

It hasn't.

We need your support more than ever - and so do the animals of Idlib. They need you.

Maybe more now, then they ever did.

We will carry on saving as many lives as we can for as long as we can.

After that we have extremely hard decisions to make.

We are actively vaccinating against rabies and protecting against deaths in humans and animals. Day after day and week after week.

As we have have always done. As we promised we would, 10 years ago.

Feeding, castrating, neutering, protecting and caring. In the strong and certain belief that every small life is as important as ours.

You have seen our videos of rescues and campaigns and the lives of our rescued animals - we are rying our hardest just to survive and improve the lives and conditions of animals in Idlib and all over Syria.

Without your help we will not survive and neither will they.

It's very simple you see. WE need YOU, to carry on.

https://t.co/lFOrY8fk5H

https://t.co/M40t0SCuHc

https://t.co/eksORnmNzw

https://t.co/CF2PQc9g5l

https://t.co/zT4WEXOb5v

Our bank account is-

Banca Sella SPA,

Account name -House of cats Ernesto

IBAN IT73E0326822300052461720340

[Ruth Stevenson @ruthste62]

@theAleppoCatmen I can’t say what I want to say about this terrible crime among so many thousands of terrible crimes. Dr. Mu’ath Abu Rukba made a difference, for as long as he could.

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

https://t.co/Yxvne8fdZN

We are delighted to have received nominations for the Worldwide-vets Golden Star Award.
Can you please follow the link, which will allow you to send an email vote for Ernestos?
We have entered for the Vets and the whole team and we so hope you will share our nomination with friends and family.
It's such an honour for us to be part of this and to gain recognition for our efforts here in Syria.
Please email your vote, supporting us.
Thank you.

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

.
A quick visit to the disability area and the maternity section.
All the cats and kittens are doing well as you can see - but look a little closer and you will see some of the areas of damage we reported about 3 days ago.

Please find it in your heart to send a donation to help with the repair work.
Winter is approaching.

https://t.co/zT4WEXOb5v

https://t.co/lFOrY8fk5H

https://t.co/jmsqYC5Wgd

https://t.co/CF2PQc9g5l

Our bank account is-
Banca Sella SPA,
Account name -House of cats Ernesto
IBAN
IT73E0326822300052461720340

[Ruth Stevenson @ruthste62]

@theAleppoCatmen This is Dotty. She is partially sighted and getting on a bit. Over the last couple of years she has gone deaf and needs arthritis shots. Still enjoying herself and waking me up early 🤍

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

@Claireanimals Why you are stealing our photos from our sanctuary in Syria ? Shame

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

Remember the cat with the badly broken jaw? The one lying by the roadside in the rubble and the heat?
We weren’t even sure if he would make it back to the sanctuary.
Well, just look at him today!
Fully healed and living his best life at Ernestos Sanctuary for Cats in Syria.

[Ernesto’s Sanctuary for Syrian Cats @theAleppoCatmen]

A beautiful video from Ernestos.
It looks so peaceful doesn't it?
But Syria is still at a dangerous time and we are very worried.
Fighting and civil unrest is once again threatening our existence.
Food for the cats and humans is doubled in price, while our donations have dropped dramatically - with many monthly donations being cancelled.
Just because the regime has gone, it doesn't mean Syria is safe. It doesn't mean Ernestos doesn't still need your help.
We are a very small organisation that relies on the generosity of donors.
Very soon we will have hard decisions to make.
At least the cats don't have our worries. For them their days are worry free.
We wish it was the same for us.
Please consider sending us a donation and supporting us again