A 58 year old man of Barcelona died a couple of days ago, survived by his family of 50 cats. He had no other family.
Apparently he had lived with these cats for many years according to
neighbours. He took strays home to save them from being put down if they
were caught by the city's sanitary department.
There
was no will but he had left written request or instruction that all
his cats should be looked after well for the rest of their natural
lives, under the care of the health department of the municipal town
hall. Wonder whether that's his last laugh seeing it's the same
department that cleans out the streets of stray cats. In any case,
Francesc F. of the municipal public health agency, had dutifully
carried out his wish and collected all the cats.
He
was fairly well off. Apart from the 'Ático' (penthouse, the most sought
after private property in Spanish cities) right in the centre of
Barcelona, there was sufficient money to see that all his faithful
feline companions are well cared for. They say cats have 9 lives. So 450 lives saved from being put down as that's the destiny of cats with no owners.
A
fair number of people criticised the man for not thinking of his own
kind, that there are people who live a marginal life too, yet he gave
his entire fortune to stray cats who wouldn't even as much as say thank
you. I wonder whether any of these same people had ever looked in on
him when he was sick and lonely.
Well,
in the first place these cats are not strays. They are his only
family, or better said, he considered them as such. They had given him
comfort of companionship; neighbours had given him nothing but constant
complaints of his cats. The rude ones called him crazy and the kinder
ones labelled him eccentric. When all said and done, it's his money, his
penthouse, his dying wish.
His last Meow; a fitting end.
Tag:450Lives
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