Dubai stray cat gets cream and a trip to Cape Town
● A stray cat in Dubai is coming to live in South Africa, thanks to an anonymous donor, a supportive spouse and a crowdfunding initiative.
The cat’s journey is the project of Carri-Anne Jane, who has been working in Dubai for the past five months. A month ago she adopted the street cat, whom she named Braveheart, after it had appeared outside her apartment building.
Jane, who is due to return to Cape Town next month, said she had developed a strong affection for the cat and could not leave it behind.
She had started by feeding the cat outside the building and it responded by climbing onto her lap and falling asleep.
Her first quote for the cat’s journey to South Africa was R42 500.
“My heart sank. It was so far out of my realm,” she said.
When she began doing the paperwork of getting the cat home herself, “things started looking up”.
A fundraising idea came from her mother, who suggested Jane “ask the kids on Twitter to help”.
She did some research on crowdfunding, set up an Instagram page “and hoped for the best”.
Jane has since raised R18 000 of the R20 000 it will cost to bring the cat to South Africa. The first donation, of R5 000, was anonymous and was followed by others from friends and strangers.
Her husband even sold his mountain bike to help pay for the cat’s flight.