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A worker plays with cats at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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A worker plays with a cat at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Cats are pictured at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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FILE PHOTO: Alaa, an ambulance driver, feeds cats in Masaken Hanano in Aleppo, Syria September 24, 2014. REUTERS/Hosam Katan/File Photo
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Cats are pictured at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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FILE PHOTO: Alaa, an ambulance driver, carries a cat in Masaken Hanano in Aleppo, Syria September 24, 2014. REUTERS/Hosam Katan/File Photo
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Cats are pictured at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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A worker reacts as he plays with a cat at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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A cat sips water at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Manager of Ernesto's sanctuary for cats, Mohamad Wattar, feeds the cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Manager of Ernesto's sanctuary for cats, Mohamad Wattar, plays with cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Cats are pictured at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Cats are pictured at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Cats are pictured at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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A worker plays with a cat at Ernesto's sanctuary for cats in Idlib, Syria March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Updated 01 April 2021
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The feeding of the one thousand: Idlib sanctuary offers cats a refuge from war

The feeding of the one thousand: Idlib sanctuary offers cats a refuge from war

When Syria's war forced Alaa al-Jaleel to close his cat sanctuary in Aleppo in 2015 and head north to the rebel stronghold of Idlib, he took around 100 animals with him and reopened it there.