US Army veteran, Willie Ortiz, a Puerto Rico native, has been feeding and caring for hundreds of cats for over twenty years and he never regretted it.

It all started when Ortiz saw a kitten in need of some food that nobody cared to provide for it, and he thought it was unfair to be treated this way, so he decided to do something about it.

“People were pushing it away, and I could see it needed help,” Willie said. “I know these cats can’t understand my accent, but I need to do something.”

From then on, Ortiz made it his mission to take care of the stray and feral cats in his area, and he has been doing so for more than two decades.

During the day, Ortiz would drive around the neighborhoods in search of scrap metal which he then sold to make about $20.00 – if he was lucky. With this amount- and more that he needed to add from his own pocket- he bought food and supplies for the strays he cared for. According to his estimation, the cats needed supplies the cost of which was about $33.00 every day, so this really meant a significant amount had to be paid directly by the man.

But he didn’t care. He would wake up every morning knowing that he would see “his” cats and this filled him with happiness. Apart from food, Ortiz also made sure that the cats in the 16 colonies that he visited every day were not sick or injured. If they were, he would take them to a vet to be treated.

As for pregnant mothers? He would take them to his friend, Roberta, who would make sure they didn’t give birth out in the cold.

Sunny, rainy, or cold weather, nothing stopped Willie Ortiz from visiting his cats. The only days he didn’t go to them were those with heavy snow.

“If it snows more than three inches, I don’t go because I don’t want them getting their bellies wet and cold,” Willie said. “But I’ll go the next night and feed them double.”

And then, a few years ago, when Ortiz had already been caring for cats for more than 20 years, he met Kathleen Schlentz, who was really inspired by his story that she decided to help him.

In 2016, Schlentz created a GoFundMe that invited people to support the man who had selflessly been helping these animals over the years.

“Now we are honoring the work that he has been doing in the Hartford and East Hartford, CT areas and helping him continue his mission,” she wrote.

Indeed, the funds raised so far have been more than $284K, and people still keep donating on a regular basis, even after all these years.

The man also has a Facebook page where he used to share details of his story and photos of some of the cats he raised. Ortiz also made sure to spay and neuter the strays so that he could contribute to controlling the population of feral cats in his area.

As Schlentz wrote in an update on GoFundMe, the Connecticut Feral Cats became a non-profit business last year and she and Ortiz were excited about it.

Thanks to this man, many a cat were spared an untimely death in the streets of Connecticut over the years, and it is heartwarming to know that such selfless people are still around.

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Source: Stories of Animals, iheartcats, Facebook, Paws Planet, GoFundMe