Although Syria has been stuck in constant warfare, there is one man who is committed to keeping Syria’s stray animals safe and well taken care of. Mohammad Alaa Jaleel is known as the “Cat Man of Aleppo” for housing abandoned pets, such as cats and dogs, in his sanctuary. But when the city of Aleppo was taken over by the military, his sanctuary was bombed and Alaa and Aleppo’s inhabitants were forced to flee. After a few months Alaa returned from Turkey to rebuild his sanctuary.

Since the civil war began, many pet cats and dogs have been lost and abandoned as their owners have been forced to flee Syria. Alaa has rebuilt his sanctuary in order to save Syria’s abandoned animals. He has started repopulating the sanctuary with starving cats and a family of dogs will soon join them.

In late March Alaa found a mother dog with 15 puppies in a field near his new sanctuary. He has decided to adopt the family and is now expanding his sanctuary to accommodate them. But in the meantime Alaa visits the family everyday to bring them food.