Cat Trapped Behind Wall In Cairo Train Station For Five Years Freed Thanks To Facebook Campaign

A cat trapped behind a wall inside a Cairo train station for the past five years is finally free thanks to the power of social media and the dedication of one elderly man.

The cat, who was named Biso, somehow slipped behind a wall at the Mohamed Naguib station in 2010 and ended up trapped in the darkness ever since. That likely would have sealed his fate, but an elderly man known as Uncle Abdo noticed the trapped feline and started going to the train station every day, offering him water and scraps of food.

Eventually, the story of the cat stuck in the Cairo train station caught on through social media. In March, a traveler took a picture of the cat’s tail hanging out from behind the wall and posted it on a “Help and rescue homeless animals” Facebook page. The person who posted the picture said they weren’t able to free the cat because it would be considered destruction of property to make a hole in the wall.

From there the story of the cat stuck in the Cairo train station grew. Another person posted the picture on a Facebook page called “Save an Innocent Animal’s Soul,” where a pair of animal rights activists found out about Biso and decided to help. The duo talked to the train station’s employees, who came together and freed the cat.

It was not a pretty sight when the cat trapped behind the wall in Cairo was freed, witnesses said. The cat’s shelter was packed with filth and bugs, with just a tiny space for him to move.

“When we removed the wall, a heinous smell emerged from the dark hole, which was 15-centimeter wide and four-meter long. It was like a tomb. There were black worms along four meters of the edge, where Uncle Abdo was able to put in food for Biso,” Mounira Shehata, an animal rights activist who participated in the rescue, told The Cairo Post.

It was a happy moment for Uncle Abdo, who was dedicated to his feline friend for the last five years. The elderly man made sure to feed the cat every day, even traveling to the train station in the midst of the nation’s uprising in 2011 when there was widespread lawlessness and the streets were unsafe.

It’s unknown what happened to the cat freed from its tiny prison in Cairo after five years. As soon as workers opened the hole, Biso took off and could not be caught. His whereabouts are not known.

[Image via The Cairo Post]