VIDEO: Meet the UAE family that lives with 35 cats and 4 dogs in their home

Mona Al Badawi, Staff Reporter

An Asian family residing in Al Ain has cancelled the popular notion of the eternal hostility prevailing between cats and dogs.

The family was able to create an understanding between the group of pets that have been sheltering in their home for nearly 6 years, bringing it to the dogs' fun with cats and also their consideration and protection, if necessary.

Ayansa and his wife Shama from Sri Lanka are caring for 35 cats and 4 dogs in their home.

It all started with raising one dog, then harbouring a cat that needed treatment, and then the numbers began to swell until the number of pets in the house exceeded the number of family members consisting of only three people.

“At first I was afraid of the presence of dogs and cats in a house and in one place, but that made me think of a way to transform hostility into intimacy, so I started providing food for them on the same site and sharing dogs and cats playing together until both parties got used to it,” Ayansa said.

Ayansa is an employee in a cafe.

The dogs sometimes take care of cats and protect them from danger.

The wife, Shama, said: “I take care of the animals just like my children, and despite the costs of raising them exceed the family’s capabilities, I cannot abandon them. I have not even travelled to my country since I started raising them, because there is no one to take care of them during my absence.”