76-year old Willie Ortiz is not letting time nor age stop him from being dedicated to over two decades of providing for sᴛʀᴀʏ cats in his community. A veteran, the Hartford, Connecticut senior is also a scrap metal collector.
He started feeding the sᴛʀᴀʏcats after he saw people ɪɢɴᴏʀɪɴɢ a hungry kitten begging for food. “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 that day, he decided that caring for sᴛʀᴀʏ cats was his life’s mission.
Every morning, Willie starts his day by driving around collecting scraps to sell. Then, every evening he ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇs his home with tins of sardines and cat food to feed the cats, and while he is there he checks on their health.
“Presently he feeds 16 colonies of sᴛʀᴀʏ and feral cats, a total of 68 cats, every night, 365 days a year, and has never missed a night in 22 years,” Kathleen Schlentz said via GᴏFᴜɴᴅMᴇ. “He makes sure they get what they need to have as good a life as possible.”
