06/08/2020
So I'm taking a moment again to definitely finish with this story, set the truth straight and speak about a person that definitely shouldn’t get away with what they did.
These criminals, particularly the girl from Habu Animals, spent weeks playing with me, torturing me by not answering my requests of information about my two kittens's fate.
Everythime I asked for news, the girl was sending a cold and polite message – as do the smart scammers who operate online - using the exact words of what she knew I was expecting for them, "they play, they’re happy", etc. How can kittens locked in a dark closed store with just somebody dropping by once in a while to give them a little low quality food be happy ?
I remember the message the guy sent me a message once: look, I want you to know that I don't agree with what masrya is doing. A bit later, he finally told me okay, I'll send you a picture. I told him it would be very good because I had been waiting so long and I didnt understand why. The guy's answer: since it's like that, I won't send you anything at all. At that time and with this nasty game, I knew inside me that the kittens were not there anymore.
The first time I met the girl, she was very warm, understanding, said she understood my concern and stress about the kittens, that she would keep me updated and send « many many pictures ».
But the only pictures I ever had was once pictures of the kittens under a sad green light, eating a poor piece of triangle cheese with a soupspoon of yogurt (as I had told her that it was cheap, healthy complement to fish and meat, and that they liked it. She didnt even know that kittens eat cheese and yogurt).
Than when she began asking for money, I was so worried for the kittens that I told her I would send some if she sent me dated pictures, as I wasnt even sure the kittens were still in the store.
Here are her answers, from June 2019
Habu Animals Luxor : Vielen Dank für deine Nachricht. Wir sind gerade nicht erreichbar, werden uns jedoch bei dir melden.
Dated pictures?
Me : With the date on the photo, date = day, month, year. A normal photo
Habu Animals Luxor : A normal picture is a normal picture and not with a date on it. I have no time to search on my phone for editing any pictures. If you have this time this is very nice but I have many other things to do than to search for this on my phone
Me : You just set ur phone or ur camera so that the photo is dated. Its simple as normal. Ask Adham, he will know
Habu Animals Luxor : No settings like this is at mine. Sorry. And I'm not letting anyone be on my phone. Privacy is everything for me. - hope that you understand this.
The case is urgent - even the street dogs have no dog food any more.
No savings.
Nothing
Habu Animals Luxor : « I told you from the beginning that I give money out of my own pocket - you said you would help the next week after you will fly.
This doesn't happened.
This money I've could spend on animals who really are in need and who are on the street alone !
Not to those who have an owner who like to travel and commanded those who gives everything to save these animals.
I'm not asking you for anything »
Me : What I told you is that I would be willing to help if they found a good home with somebody who wouldnt have lots of money, that I would send some money when from France when I am back. That's what I said. Now umylu ask me for money, I'm asking you to send me dated pictures of my kittens, which is a total normal request. In almost 3 weeks, you send me pix one and only time. I can't see the point of this discussion about something as simple as sending photos from my kittens.
And as I said, help will come. Just send me pictures.
And by the way, I'm not the owner. I rescued these kittens who were brought to me by Egyptian kids. I care about animals and could not refuse to take in these two needy orphan kittens. That's what I did. I fed them, housed them, healed them, I spent money too, and time, and concern, and I was happy to do so because they were very happy themselves and healthy. I hope you are happy too to rescue animals from Egypt, all the more since this is your job and you have a page raising donations for this.
Send pictures please, help will come.
Then right after my message, at the very same minute, I got this answer
Habu Animals Luxor : Hello. Kindly I like to inform you that both kittens have found a lovely and caring home. We first introduced the new owner and after I see that it fits they came and took them to their new home. Also I went there and it looks great, a lot to play and to sleep and love.
Me : Really? What a lovely news... Can you put me in touch with the family? I will come see them
Habu Animals Luxor :Vielen Dank für deine Nachricht. Wir sind gerade nicht erreichbar, werden uns jedoch bei dir melden.
Me : But I heard Adham from the papyrus shop where you brought them dumped them 3 weeks ago?!
22 june 21h58. No more answers.
End of discussion and contact.
So as can be seen, in the messages we exchanged as in her « statement », she took well the trouble on describing me as an owner - I never was - and what's more a capricious owner who abandoned her kittens to be able to travel.
As I said before, the day after I entrusted her the kittens, I found out a post on her Habu Animal's page saying that she had found (she was saying "we found" but there's no "we" as there is no organization, no structure, no nothing, she's alone with her page trying to raise money) kittens dump in the street by nasty owner. I was so shocked and outraged that I immediately called her and ask her what was that, why such a lie. Answer : people give more with emotional messages, they like that.
She was having so much problems to understand the reason of my indignation that I had to argue ten minutes to convince her to delete this outrageous and deceitful post and write the simple truth.
The only time the girl sent something else than the usual cold polite messages was indeed when she asked me for money. Her argument: she'd spent 500 pounds on their food in three weeks! (I forgot to put the copy, I will). Who would believe such a crap ?
Myself, who's always on a very tight budget, I managed well to feed them both with good healthy food and healed my poor little ginger kitten with medications that I had to renew twice in the month, antibiotic, cream for the prolapsus, cream for the mouth's infection and eyedrops for the eyes's infection, all for less than 500 pounds the month. Which was already something for me.
Not to mention, she said, the taxis from my own pocket. Wait ! Her father's place is 300 meters from the main road on which the guy's store is located, not even ten minutes away by microbus that passes every ten minutes. But the girl was taking taxis ?!
I had never promised HER money. This girl has a page that she uses to collect euros mainly from Germany for supposedly helping street animals, and she collects enough to pay for food for 2 kittens. Again: she has no structure, no network, nothing. Her activity simply doesn't exist. She just gives a little bit of kibble to stray dogs. Without forgetting to post nice pictures when she crosses some of them to make her followers believe that she is working hard to rescue them.
When I met her, I told her that I’d be willing to help an Egyptian family on a monthly basis. My post on the Luxor residents group hadnt brought any solutions, to say the least. So the most willing to take two kittens would be an Egyptian family with a heart and concerned about the sake of two kittens, and these kind people you find are more likely poor large egyptian families who obviously have other priorities than feeding the cats.
Her entire long post, pomposly named « statement » to make it look very "official", is a complete lie and a total (but smart) scam.
The most significant is that these people took a picture of me the day we brought the kittens in the storewhile I was not even aware of it. Again, which people whose purpose is to take care of animals would snap a picture of somebody who entrust them two kittens? Not to mention that they had no right to do so. As they had no right to publish this photo without my consent. A pic on which I appear from afar sweating with messy hair (55 degrees), exhausted, stressed, which has little to do with me in real life but definitely fulfill her objective.
I was so shocked to find out that the « place with space » she’d told me about was... a dark empty store !! OMG ! I had imagined a house with garden of a German resident since she had spoken in German on the phone. Why she didnt take the kittens herself in her place until she found a home ? There is a huge shadowy terrace, with cushion, on a very quiet street where you have a car every two hours, there were many big fresh rooms in the back where they could have slept safe at night. Instead she showed me a poor dirty eagle in a filthy cage, that she uses on her Maratonga restaurant's advertisement page to value the restaurant as a business ethically involved into animals care. A smart little scammer indeed.
The very second I read the first sentence of her « statement », I knew that the kittens had been separated. The very first sentence says that my only requirement was that there should be AC. It’s totally wrong. My first and foremost requirement was they shouldnt never be separated. My second requirement, with a hellish heat in Luxor, was that they would have AC in one room at least as they were still small kittens. Her very first sentence is a signature of her forfait and lie. Obviously to protect herself.
Of what ? I didnt even go to the police, as many people advised me. I had no time, but more important, I knew that the police wouldnt do anything, what could they do anyway ? There was no money scam involved. Her father owns a very old and established place in luxor west bank, who would ever bother his daughter ? And this is Egypt, and what's more Luxor, people know each other, bribes, and so on.
I should have, though, gone to the police, at least about the incident related to an expat woman she viciously tells.
Ironically her statement which aims at giving a picture of me like someone having nothing to do in life other than taking care of kittens, travelling and making problems is at least for the last point a perfect description of herself. A 20's something years old German girl who came in Egypt two years ago to live with her Egyptian father and that, from what I learned later, many Luxor west bank people have heard of.
So she tried to build up a story about me, a story full of ridiculous details… Such as I was having problems getting my visa renewed. Some story! At that time in Luxor, to get the visa renewed, you had to go to the court first, accompanied by the owner and a translator (to be paid), and once you had the paperwork approved by the court you could go to the visa office. Without this court paper, the visa office would systematically refuse to renew your visa. It goes without saying that the vast majority of West Bank landlords do not declare their business, moreover the landlord at that time of my rental illiterate. To be nice and helpful, he still came with me but once in front the office he ran away, scared 😏🙄😬
Another interesting detail : I arrived on a motorbike! Wow ! I arrived by motorbike because she had given me rv at three o'clock in the afternoon to meet her, and it was 55 degrees. I was so relieved and happy to have what I thought was the solution for the kittens that I didnt dare telling her that it would be better in the evening because it was so painfully hot. I just came. And so seeing me waiting for the microbus on the side of the road, a guy stopped, asked me where I was going and told me he was going to that corner and could drop me off. After some hesitation precisely because I have not time nor interest for any kind of bu****it, but seeing that the guy was just being nice and trying to be helpful, I said yalla. Some five minutes later we arrived, I got off, I said thank you to the guy and he guy left. End of the juicy detail.
Then I had a nickname on facebook ! Thrilling ! I have a nickname, like half of facebook.
From all this horrible story,the worst for me, though, was the psychological torture I suffered during weeks and months because of my kittens, that I was really attached to and for whom I wished for the best. During weeks, at Sharm, Dahab and then back home, I was worried, I imagined them sad and it made me sick and feel guilty. I felt they were waiting for me to take them out of this place. I literally pictured them waiting 😢 But I had no money to fly to luxor, and would I have gone back there, there was no way I could bring them back. A 16-hour bus ride with two kittens, impossible. Not to mention that it was forbidden. Same thing on the train (but now it's allowed) to Cairo.
I dit it once, I brought back a kitten to Cairo by bus but it was a three hours trip, it was hidden in my purse and it stayed super quiet all the time. Finally the other passengers and the driver saw her but nobody said anything and everybody pretended not to see anything. I had found an American student who was looking for a companion for her cat of the same type. Madam Moustache is now in America in a lovely comfy home with her friend and a nice girl.
Photo 1 Madam Moustache in Egypt and photo 2 Madam Moustache in her US home.
I can see in here that my story doesn't interest many people and I guess it’s totally understandable. The only real interested people on this is me of course. On top of everything I had to suffer, I had also the surprise to see that her post was widely liked and even shared dozens of times.
And I found out long afterwards that this long lying post had also been shared on the Dahab animals adoption group.
By who? Mystery. The girl herself perhaps or another good soul no doubt. Who knows... This allowed me to understand, afterwards, why I was meeting people who looked scared to see me or whose previously friendly attitude had suddenly changed.
Which means that you can be a hell of good animals care but a poor human in some situations. That's life, as they say.
One thing is certain though, a story like this could never have happened in Dahab or Sharm. Where, despite some ugly nasty reactions, to be fair and true these associations are doing an extraordinary job. And the people in charge are great, always responsive, caring and good-hearted when it comes to helping animals.
Now this girl tries to raise money to set up a refuge for animals to keep herself busy and become rich. God protect us that anyone would send her money for this.
I dont know if she will ever raise money to set up a refuge, but what I’m sure about is scammers are smart. You got to be smart and a liar to be a scammer. Not only did she publish a senseless series of lies and try to pass me off as being light years away from me, she had the smartness to say that thanks to this story, she has "learned a lot", like "I was in good faith, but now I'll be careful". A good way in the end to attract sympathy. And it worked !
Sad social media moral : publish a good spicy piece of story about somebody, people wont bother to find wether the the story is true or not, they will just love it. Ready to believe everything and anything.
Anyway, it is now an old story, but at least it will be written and published, for the sake of reality and truth. But still, everytime I think of all this thing, it feels like a knife in the heart. Remember this name Habu Animals Luxor, Masrya Hamed. I had warned against this in here, in a short, rather sober message.
So practical Moral of this for me : 1) if you temporarily foster homeless cats or dogs, start immediately looking for a home for them. Dont wait the last moment as I did. 2) be very careful to whom you entrust them, even if the people look nice and take the time to get to know them. 3) If you are a victim of lies and intimidation, dont wait as I did to reply immediately (if at all you find out quickly).
Now... thank you for your attention, to those who will bother read this till the end.
Have a nice day all ! Meow, meow, wof wof and all that kind of jazz !
