The other day, a curious scene unfolded on the streets of Alanya, Turkey. It was there, along a bustling city sidewalk, that a crowd began to gather.
People were jockeying to catch a glimpse of a certain adorable someone.
What caused the stir on the sidewalk that day wasn’t the sighting of some celebrity per se.
The crowd’s attention had been gripped by a furry figure at their feet.
Turns out, smack-dab in the middle of the walkway was a random cat, splayed out with his belly toward the sky.
He was doing little more than lying there, but for the adoring throng, that was apparently enough.
Some people stopped and smiled, while others moved in to give him a pet or two. Interestingly, many in the crowd even went so far as to hand over their money — offerings, perhaps, to his undeniable cuteness.
Here’s a snippet of that scene on video:
Although some passersby likely believed the cat to be a stray, that is not the case. The Dodo came to learn that he is actually the resident pet of Golden Eye Jewellery, a store near the place he had been resting.
His name is Tarik.
“Tarik came to us two years ago,” Ender, the jewelry store’s spokesperson, told The Dodo. “He was very weak and sick. We took him in with us and fed him. As you can see, now he is fat and lazy — a very sweet and docile cat.”
But Tarik isn’t very interested in privacy.
Often, the cat steps outside and lounges in front of the store, inviting people to give him a rub.
“Tarik loves the attention very much,” Ender said.
That day, Ender was surprised to find that Tarik’s attention-seeking resulted in a nice little pile of money, left randomly by strangers. He made sure it went to good use.
“We feed around 15 stray cats a day,” Ender said. “We had a nice banquet for Tarik’s friends with the money he collected, buying them nice food. Our goal is to increase people’s interest in stray animals.”
Sure enough, simply by being himself, Tarik had managed to do a bit of good.
“We love cats,” Ender said.
And judging from the crowd, they’re clearly not the only ones.
