Shining World Compassion Award: Fawaz Kanaan of Save Dubai Stray Cats

Cats are beautiful, sensitive and majestic animals with extraordinary abilities. However, as cats have adapted to becoming human companions, they do not fare well when left to fend for themselves outside. Roaming the streets comes with many dangers, including starvation, exposure to a multitude of diseases, other aggressive animals, etc. The number of stray cats in the Emirates has recently reached a hundred thousand, and in Dubai, tens of thousands. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Fawaz Kanaan has been feeding and rescuing stray cats from the streets of Dubai. Working nights and weekends as an event organizer and a rock DJ frees up time for him to help animals. “The ones that needed to be treated, I bring them to the vet. We treat them, we put them back in the same spot.” Through social media platforms such as Facebook, Mr. Kanaan has raised awareness and helped many cats find loving homes, both locally and internationally, including in Canada, the United States, Russia, Germany, Belgium and the UK. Deeply grateful for his compassionate initiatives, Supreme Master Ching Hai presented Mr. Kanaan the Shining World Compassion Award. "Dear Fawaz, It is with great admiration and gratitude that we present to you the Shining World Compassion Award for saving, then re-locating felines. This Award is presented in recognition of your impressive initiative to rescue stray cats from the streets of Dubai, then re-home them into forever loving homes. Your untiring efforts herald a new era of empathy and harmonious co-existence with our precious animal friends." "May Allah shower you and all involved with all love and blessing. With Great Honor, Love and Blessings in Allah’s Grace Supreme Master Ching Hai." "To Supreme Master Ching Hai, I really want to say a big thank You for this award and for this recognition. I’m honored, to be honest. I hope this message will reach everyone, animal lovers, and non-animal lovers so they will be animal lovers."