DINA and her babies AMBER and CHARLIE . . . One day, I took a walk along the back streets.  Unbeknown to me at the time, I was in the wrong place at the right time.  By the large metal bins, I heard a horrendous piercing sound.  Approaching closer, the noise was coming from a plastic bag. Inside this bag, were two tiny newborn kittens, only a couple of hours old.  Oh, the bloody Greeks!  Who would do this?  It is a common occurrence and one that still continues.  I had a friend that lived close by.  I knocked at her door and explained what had happened and she agreed that they could stay with her until I got something prepared for them.

Durig this time, I was having some cats neutered.  Most stray cats that are caught or trapped for neutering are always very wild in their cages.  However, one cat seemed to be behaving in a very different way.  She was human friendly and wasn’t scared at all.  She was sat upright in her cage and seemed to be looking round.  Looking for what, I didn’t know at the time.  But I had learnt that in the area where I found the two tiny babies, some elderly women had a cat that had given birth to two kittens.  These women were religious old sisters, who attended church regularly.  One sister said that their cat went away to have her kittens, the other sister said that the kittens had died.  I wondered if these two babies I found wrapped inside a plastic bag were the kittens that belonged to the cat that was sat upright in the cage waiting to be neutered? 

I followed my instincts.  I went to collect the babies and even though my friend had had them for a few days, they were failing.  It was just something about this cat in the cage that didn’t add up.  They must have been her babies.  I didn’t know what to expect either.  Outside the cage of the mummy, I put the tiny kittens down and waited for them to cry, as I wanted to see the reaction of the older cat.  It would have been a risk putting them together, but I had to try.  I carefully opened the cage door and gently put the kittens inside.  Mummy growled and hissed, but then she started to lick the tiny babies.  She washed them and then turned over onto her back to allow the little ones to suckle.  Even though they had been apart for five days, she had milk and the babies started to suckle, now they had a chance.  This cat could not be neutered now.  She had a duty to perform and would be neutered at a much later date.  The bond between these three was absolutely amazing.  I had to put them all in a huge cage, with a litter tray at the end, so that the mummy cat could at least go to the toilet.  I called the mummy DINA and her babies AMBER and CHARLIE. 

A few days later, I went to see the Greek sisters and was shocked.  They were old, very religious, went to church every Sunday, but still binned two live tiny helpless souls, by wrapping them in a plastic bag and leaving them to die!  They knew who I was and were very shocked.  All I got from them was ‘sinome, sinome’.  Being sorry was not good enough.  Going to church, all holy and praying, yet doing what they did was unforgiveable.  I gave the kittens a chance in life. They grew and became a beautiful little family.  AMBER and CHARLIE were very lucky, after spending some time with us at home, they were adopted and went to Holland.  Today DINA is still in the open fields where we feed every day, and is as gentle as anything.  

. . . The smallest feline is a masterpiece ~ Leonardo De Vinci . . .

Picture Gallery