Meet Willie Ortiz, a scrap metal collector who has been feeding stray cats for 22 years now, not missing a single day. The 76-year-old man, a veteran and a husband of 52 years from Hartford, Connecticut, provides food to nearly 70 felines. Presently he feeds 16 colonies of stray and feral cats, a total of 68 cats, every night, 365 days a year and has never missed a night in 22 years. He makes sure they get what they need to have as good a life as possible.
Ortiz, a Puerto Rico native, started feeding cats back in 1995, after seeing a hungry kitty begging for food. “People were pushing it away, and I could see it needed help,” Ortiz told Courant. The man immediately realized that caring for cats was his life’s mission.
However, not everyone understands his decision. “People ask me why I feed them every day, or tell me I feed them too much,” Ortiz said. “You eat every day, no? You get three meals; they eat once every 24 hours.”
Ortiz says he will continue doing this for as long as he can.