Animal Lovers

With an estimated 150,000 cats and dogs roaming its streets, Istanbul, Turkey, has more strays than its government knows how to handle. Despite these overwhelming numbers, one woman does her very best to help the city's animals. Vera, a resident of the city's coastal Kartal district, takes care of the 350 or so stray cats that live on the region's the rocky shore, providing them with the food and medical care they so desperately need. During the winter, when food is scarce, Vera tries to feed the cats every day, bringing up to 50 lbs. of food down to the water. Luckily, she doesn't have to endure the frigid temperatures alone, having started a volunteer organization, the Atalar Sahili Cat Neutering Group , to help care for the cats. Keeping the strays fed, however, is only part of the mission for Vera and her volunteers. "Apart from this, we pick up sick cats and send them to vet for treatment," a representative told Love Meow. "Last year w...

A caring lady has given up her home to more than 1,000 felines. Lynea Lattanzio, 67, of Parlier, California, now lives in a trailer on her six acre property and allows the cats to run freely through the five bedroom house. She started fostering cats in 1992 after a divorce and acquired 96 by the end of the year - successfully rehoming all of them. In 1993 she became a veterinary technician to help keep the animals' medical costs down and the number of cats continued to grow. Today she runs Cat House On The Kings which is California's largest no-cage, no kill sanctuary for feral and abandoned cats. Lynea, who was banned by her mother from keeping a cat as a child, said: 'I'm at the top of the list of eccentric cat ladies - I don't think there has been anyone who has lived with 28,000 cats in 24 years. That's probably a record. 'Back then I was single, had no kids and bought this 4,200 square foot home and thought what am I thinking. 'I s...