In the small town of Cusco, Peru, a young American woman named Hannah Shaw saved a stray kitten from certain death. Shaw, better known as Kitten Lady, was on vacation with her boyfriend and cat photographer, Andrew Marttila, when they came across a small boy running through the streets with a kitten in his arms.
As Shaw explains, she saw a small kid running while carrying a cat in his arms. The child looked happy and wasn’t being cruel to the animal but was holding onto it tightly. So Shaw began chasing the boy and yelling out: “Hey! Let me help this kitty.”
The kitten was dirty and covered in fleas, but Shaw was determined to help. She gave the kitten some food and water, then took it back to her hotel room to clean it up.
The following 48 hours were an absolute madness for Shaw and Martial. They had to put Munai on a plane from Cusco to Lima, which was the first leg of her journey. Then they had to fly with Munay from Lima to Atlanta – a total of 18 hours in the air.
Luck was definitely on their side – and Munai’s. Shaw and Marttila put Munay on a plane from Cusco to Lima and then onto an international flight from Lima to Atlanta.
Shaw said: “She slept on my chest. I would wake up in the morning on the plane and see her fast asleep, purring away happily on my chest.”
When Munay arrived in the United States, Shaw and Marttila were greatly relieved. Shaw confessed that she had cried tears of joy upon seeing that kitten in her home. “I couldn’t believe we had just accomplished this – it’s ridiculous,” she said.
“It made me so ecstatic that I could finally put her down on the couch or floor and let her explore and run around; Our house was like an entirely new world for her,” Shaw said. Not to mention, Munai’s health has constantly been improving since then.
Munai’s story has a happy ending, but millions of other stray cats worldwide are not so lucky. Every kitten deserves a chance at a happy life.
This kitten’s life was saved thanks to Shaw’s quick thinking and compassion.
