MSI Press Blog

  Cats & Their People: Stories from Conflict Zones — Eight Cats & Mohamed (Leo died of starvation a year ago, now there eight cats, all living but in need of help.) Mohamed is an engineer is a pharmacy student in Gaza . He takes care of eight cats in his tent, and he tries to help his sister's family, whose tent is totally destroyed. Here is Mohamed's story: Mohammed is trapped in Gaza along with his family. This includes his parents, siblings, and grandmother. Despite the ceasefire, conditions in Gaza remain extremely severe. Mohammed's family urgently needs support to cover essentials like food, water, shelter, and medical care—for themselves and cats, Mimi, Momo, and Meo. Displaced in the Al-Mawasi tent encampment, they've split up as a precaution (to have surviving family members if one area is bombed).   Recent winter storms brought heavy rain and wind that collapsed their tent, soaking bedding and belongings. (Flooding in Gaza exacerbates health and safety...

  photo from Animal Friends Shelter This is the first of a series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach effor...

    photo from Animal Friends Shelter Two weeks ago, our Caturday post focused on the  plight of animals and their caregivers in war zones .  It focused as the first in a planned series on Animal Friends Shelter in Gaza City.  Animal Friends Shelter Last Saturday, we updated the information available from Tamir and Samir, two selfless cat godparents weathering the war in Gaza City (and, of course, beyond).  This Caturday, we can report that we last heard from AFS yesterday. We know from the news reports that the Internet is not functioning in Gaza right now, but we hope and pray that AFS is able t continue caring for its family of cats, who, yesterday, were squabbling a bit over rationed food.   Animal Friends Shelter is on Twitter:  Animal Friends Shelter (@AnimalFriendsAF) / X (twitter.com) And for those who wish to donate (AFS is a charity) to help -- PayPal.Me . Now, with an invasion going on and the Internet is down, donations may take a...

In Gaza, even survival has become a daily negotiation — and the cats, once symbols of ordinary neighborhood life, now mirror the region’s fragility. Amid rubble and scarcity, they wander through bombed streets and broken courtyards, searching for food, shelter, and a human touch. Their suffering is quiet but constant, a reflection of the larger grief that surrounds them. Yet in this devastation, small sanctuaries persist — volunteers feeding, rescuing, and nursing life back into fur and bone. These shelters are acts of mercy in a place where mercy itself is endangered. To care for Gaza’s cats is to affirm that life still matters — even in places where survival feels impossible. Each rescued animal is a small act of resistance against despair, a reminder that compassion can outlast destruction. The shelters working there do more than feed and heal; they testify that mercy endures, even when everything else collapses. Below are links to organizations and volunteers who keep that mercy al...

  Hadeel is a young woman in Gaza, struggling to stay alive and to care for her once-feisty, now very sick cat, Sukkar. Tuesday is a very important day. It is the date on which the vet will provide lifesaving surgery IF the funding is available. It is also the date by which another $74 in funding must be secured. As Hadeel writes, "That is only $5 each from 15 people." Here is Hadeel's story: My name is Hadeel Jalal, a 27 years-old, Architectural engineer and content creator. I used to create content for almost 500k people worldwide and help others create their content to make their voices heard and start their businesses. But this war made my dream to help more people disappear when I lost my filming studio and my tech gear. (Read more at the GoFundMe site .) Sukkar is my cat, my first cat, the one who introduced me to a lovely world full of happiness. He is 2 years old now. We met in Istanbul when he was only 40 days old, and since then we can't separate. Sukkar for...