Can you help a 17 year old cat rescuer in Dubai?

Hi folks, I’m reaching out to you all to see if you can help me help a young cat rescuer in Dubai. I don’t know how much you know about the cat situation in Dubai, probably not much, but it is dire. Frankly put, people just dump their domestic cats in the streets when they tire of them, can’t afford their vet bills or can’t afford to take them home with them. Kind hearted rescuers have ‘feeding stations’ across Dubai, paid for out of their own pockets, to feed Dubai’s strays and every day new cats appear. These cats are pets, not feral. The heat is intense, often they are injured and frankly speaking, left to die. There are no institutions in Dubai to deal with this problem as we have in the UK - RSPCA, Cats Protection, etc. These cats depend on the kindness of strangers to feed them, take them to the vets, foster and rehome them. So there are a lot of volunteer rescuers; they’ll trap the cats, take them to the vets to be neutered, try to address their ailments, release them back to the streets and feed them at their feeding stations. I can’t take cats in so have tried to find a way to help financially, and that’s how I came across 17 year old Tasmiyah Anwer.

Tasmiyah is a young rescuer who has been feeding cats on the streets of Dubai for years; she has Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share/23RVhHcGLLE3EwHE/?mibextid=LQQJ4d) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ttastrays?igsh=ZDc1bG90YXpyMWY1  (https://www.instagram.com/ttastrays?igsh=ZDc1bG90YXpyMWY1)) pages where she tries to get donations for food, vets bills, and tries to find these cats new homes, in Dubai or abroad. I’ve decided to sponsor Tasmiyah by giving her monthly donations for all of the above. And that’s when I found out about her vet bills; Tasmiyah has racked up £2,000 of vets bills that she has no ability to pay. It’s less than ideal that a 17 year old has been able to open accounts at vet practices and rack up debts; apparently these accounts are often backed by sponsors like myself, and her sponsorship suddenly stopped without warning leaving her with these debts to settle. As you can imagine, the stress on this young girl, not from a wealthy family, who just wanted to do her bit to ease the suffering of cats in her area is enormous. She hasn’t been able to finish school and her mental health is shot. And this is before she’s started to receive the legal notices…

This is where, potentially, you come in :)

As much as I’d dearly love to pay off her debts for her, £2,000 is a bit of a stretch! As with these things, if everyone just chipped in a small amount it would make a huge difference to the total owed, and I could maybe agree a repayment plan for the balance with the vets. Anything you could donate, no matter how small and I know this is a big ask at times like these when everyone is struggling in their own way, would help chip away at Tasmiyah’s debt. So, knowing what wonderful animal lovers you all are, I’ve set up a GoFundMe to see what I can raise for her alongside me agreeing a repayment plan…

This is the first time I’ve ever tried to crowdfund anything; I’m nervous and a wee bit excited about what could be achieved here. Thank you! xxx