Odd News

Gran feeds street cats for 24 years

By Jia Xu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-06 17:23

Guo Lianfu and her 85 adopted-cats at their home in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong province, April 4, 2011. [Photo/Qingdao News]

For cat lover Guo Lianfu sharing her home with 85 street cats is just a small part of the work she does caring for stray felines around Zhoukou residential area in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong province. At 71, retired Guo still leaves her house at 10 pm every night to give food to hundreds of abandoned cats, often staying out beyond midnight each night.

In just 2.5 hours on one night in April she was observed delivering more than 15 kilogram (33 pounds) of food to 150 more cats around 22 sites.

She has delivered free food to felines for over 24 years, starting at the age of 47 when she saw a dying cat hanging from on a tree and saved it. Since then, her compassion towards wild cats has grown into a round the clock job.

"My family has carried out cat adoption for generations, from my grandmother, my mother, me to my daughter, we all love cats, and adopts cats, and my husband, though 72 years old, also supports my job," Guo said.

In order to provide more food for more cats, she and her husband spend almost all of their retirement income on buying food and medicines. "We never eat meat at home, we save it to feed cats," Guo said, whose husband now works selling bedding clothes to earn extra money.