Stock Photo - 03 August 2019, Syria, Aleppo: Cats are seen at the shelters of the Ernesto's Cat Sanctuary, runned by Mohammed Alaa al-Jaleel, also known as 'the cat man of Aleppo'. During the Syrian war in 2012, Al-Jaleel was working as an ambulance driver in Aleppo, he used to drop off food for stray and abandoned cats on his way home after work. In 2015, he started to search for living cats in the war devastated areas and take them home, later in the year his compassionate work with cats gone viral and with the help of an Italian cat lover called Alessandra Abidin, he started to raise funds and receive donations that helped him to secure a land to serve as a Sanctuary and veterinary clinic for abandoned cats, it was named ""The House of Cats Ernesto"" after a loved pet cat of Alessandra who had died of cancer. As well as over 200 cats, now the sanctuary has dogs, monkeys, rabbits, and other animals and expanded to include a kindergarten and an orphanage. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa. - Aleppo/Syria