Helping to rescue the rescuer

It’s mid-afternoon, and an animal rescuer and I are heading down a small, winding soi near Samut Prakan.
 Finally, we see it, a lovely little house painted blue. Although we’ve never been there before, we know we’ve arrived. The lady standing by the door is holding a cat, and another lies happily wrapped around her ankles.
 “Pa Mao!” my friend calls out. The lady serenely smiles back. “Yes,” she says, “I’m here.”
 My friend has heard about her from another animal rescuer, who has mentioned how difficult Pa Mao is finding it to take care of all her cats.
 We go through the door into a large, dark room. The floor is made of wooden slats that bend under our weight. We have to tread carefully, though, and not only because of the floor.
 This room is full of cats, from one-week-old kittens to fully-grown adults of all shapes and colours. Some cats are in cages, but most wander around the room.
 Big or small, though, they’re all very skinny, and they all have some sort of eye problem.
 Since Pa Mao keeps most of them inside, the cats have no choice but to pee and poo wherever they can. The smell of cat urine and faeces penetrates our hair and clothes. In this environment, the animals have very little chance of becoming healthy.
 “How many cats do you have?” I ask her, but she doesn't know – the number simply keeps on growing. My guess is around 60.
 Until a few months ago, when some rescuers began helping her, she never had any of the cats neutered, and the kitten population was booming. Besides, people dump cats and kittens at her door constantly.
 Yet, how friendly these cats are to strangers! They enjoy people. They love being petted. Obviously, Pa Mao has spent a lot of time with them.
 Although Pa Mao clearly loves her animals, she’s extremely limited. She has no steady income. When she has money, she buys rice and powdered milk for her cats.
 My friend and I take two kittens who, we think, are sure to find good homes. As we put them in the carrier, Pa Mao weeps silently. She knows she has to let them go, but it breaks her heart to say goodbye.
 If you’d like to help Pa Mao, please phone Tharinee “Carrie” Wipuchanin on (089) 669 1690 or (081) 451 2233.