the plight of cats

The streets of Cairo are filled with cats, and as an animal lover I was saddened to read this account of the plight of cats during the protests:

“Trying to reach Cairo’s Tahrir Square through clouds of tear gas and volleys of rubber bullets, Egyptian TV anchor Mona Khalil was forced by the tumult into a side street. There, she remembers, ‘I saw cats running, running, running, and trying to get into houses or staircases or buildings and some of them were really gasping.’ Two kittens had found shelter under a car. She managed to take them inside a building, away from the toxic fumes. Others were not so lucky. ‘Going back later I found two cats that were lying on their sides, dead,’ she adds. For Khalil, 43, who is also one of the leaders of Egypt’s fledgling animal rights movement, the event had particular resonance. It was, she said, ‘the first slap in the face that, oh my God, those streets are filled with cats and dogs.'”