Emily Walker
When Kelly Walker, 43, of Mapplewell, Barnsley, saw two strays on the streets of Turkey in November 2020, she decided to bring them home.
She fell in love on the spot with Harriet and Delilah, who are thought to be around 6 months old. She failed to realize they were actually wild animals.
The owner of the salon then began making arrangements to bring them home with her, anticipating the money she planned to spend on a house.
“It’s been emotional,” she remarked after eleven months. Ms. Walker went on holiday just before the second national coronavirus lockdown, has just been divorced herself.
She was visiting the local charity food bank when she saw the two cats. One of them had an eye issue that required veterinary care, so she immediately booked an appointment with a veterinarian.
“I thought, ‘I can’t see these cats like this; I must do something,’ ” she recalled. “At first I believed it would cost £3,000 ($4,000) to get them sorted out.
It ended up being £7,000 ($9,400). That was when I realized that getting these cats fixed and looking after them and then trying to get a house wasn’t going to happen within the budget I needed.”
After receiving the permissions from veterinarians and the Turkish government, Ms. Walker traveled to Ankara to get the animal’s passports and vaccinations so they would be safe to travel.
In January 2021, while the UK was under lockdown, Ms. Walker was stopped at Istanbul Airport and informed that she could not enter Turkey because of quarantine regulations.
I just wanted to help them improve, it meant something to me. The four-day trip from a foster home in Turkey to Barnsley was made with a special pet courier service last week. It’ll take some time for them to get used to it.
Kelly Walker
I’ve had them for four days now and I’ve not seen any cats!” There is a lot of work to do in her home, but Ms. Walker believes that it will be worth it eventually.
“They’re going to have a good life,” she said. “Harriet was under the weather when she arrived, but she’s doing better. She was a bit underweight, but she’s eating now and she seems healthy.”
“I don’t know if it’ll work out in the long term,” she remarked. “But I’m going to try my best for them because they’re very nice cats.” With regard to her financial situation, Ms. Walker added, “I’m going to have to make money. But I don’t care about that.”
She was not planning on going out of her way to get a job. Instead, she said, “I’ll look around here and see if there’s anything available for me.”
The cats are still adjusting to their new surroundings and Ms. Walker has not yet let them out of the garage. “They’re timid because they don’t know me,” she stated.
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