Stray cat in Qatar wins hearts of English World Cup defenders, gets adopted to England

DOHA  —  England's hopes of lifting the World Cup might have been dashed but Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and John Stones did not want to leave Qatar completely empty handed — hence they will be taking home a stray cat befriended by the team at their training base.

England came up short against France on Saturday (Dec 10), who clinched a gutsy 2-1 quarter-final win.

The cat, which Stones named Dave, will have to spend four months in quarantine before it can be re-united with the City duo.

"He was just there one day, so we’ve just adopted him, me and Stonesy,” Walker told the Football Association’s official media channel.

"Dave is welcome to the table ... Some people really don’t like the cat, but I love him."

"First day we got there ... Dave pops out,” Stones added.

"Every night he sat there waiting for his food." 

Qatar Animal Welfare Society confirmed the cat’s adoption in a Facebook post on Monday (Dec 12), stating: “Yes, it's official, Dave is going home.”

The non-profit organisation which describes itself as "dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of animals in Qatar" referred to the cat currently waiting out its four month quarantine before heading towards its new home.

It added that Dave the cat “is busy raising the profile and showing everyone how amazing our Doha strays really are”. 
 
“So many visitors have reached out to rescuers here and we know other lucky cats have also found their way into hearts and will  be travelling in the future...a great outcome from the World Cup Qatar 2022,” the post said.

Last week, the organisation wrote "Can Dave come home with you? We can help" under the comments section of a video post of the cat carried by both the official accounts of team England and Stones.

This prompted several other comments urging the team to adopt the cat.

That same week on Wednesday (Dec 7), the organisation had introduced Dave on its Facebook page as a Doha stray which had gained popularity on the media in the United Kingdom as a "favourite with the England team".

The post contained a picture of the cat, a gift basket along with Walker, Stones and teammate Kalvin Philips.

“When this young cat noticed the local hotel had some guests he thought he'd try his luck and join them for dinner and what a good move that turned out to be,” the post said.

Qatar Animal Welfare Society said that after hearing that the cat joined the English team while they were having dinner, it came over to deliver a cat gift basket, containing essentials and treats jointly contributed by pet food store Royal Canin Qatar.

“Dave soon became a favourite with the England team and his posts became so popular on social media he's made the newspapers and featured on TV in the UK. Dave is one lucky cat and his future now looks very bright,” it added. REUTERS