Blind cat rescued from behind dumpster now Facebook famous

By Faye Mayern via SWNS

A blind kitten found dumped behind a dumpster in Cyprus was rescued and flown to the UK - and has now won a global competition with half a million votes.

Haggis, the five-year-old feline, was found as a tiny kitten at death's door in Cyprus and had to have his eyes removed due to an infection.

John and Laura Watson, who own 13 other rescue cats, adopted the youngster and paid £1,300 (over $1,600) to bring him back over to Glasgow, Scotland.

The couple entered him into an online pet competition called KingPet on Facebook and were shocked to find he had placed first in both the UK and globally - with almost half a million votes.

Laura, 57, and John, 55, said: "We're as proud as punch with him winning the titles.

"We've watched and nurtured all of our rescue cats to full health and Haggis is so special - he's a wee fighter who deserves to be world champion."

Haggis has been awarded a special certificate for his win and John and Laura are expecting to receive £2,159 (over $2,700) in prize money.

They will put their winnings back into their rescue cat empire and plan to help other stray cats abroad.

John and Laura were first introduced to Haggis in 2019 when he was spotted by an animal rescue worker and friend of the couple behind a dumpster in Larnaca.

Laura, an advocacy worker, said: "He had one eye partially closed and was suffering from cat flu.

"We were already in the process of adopting another kitten at the time but we were committed to rescuing cats.

"It took a good few weeks to trap him but when he was, he was taken to the vets for medical checkups.

"It was determined he couldn't see, possibly only shadows - his vision was virtually zero due to the infection and so the vet liaised with us to have his eyes removed so he could be pain-free."

Haggis went to live temporarily at a cattery while he recovered and Laura even flew out to visit him.

When he was 16 weeks old, Haggis was old enough to travel to Glasgow to live with Laura and John and so they paid £1300 for his vet care, vaccinations, passport and flight.

There he joined their 12 other rescue cats - and was named 'Haggis' after the national dish.

Laura said: "He doesn’t even know that he’s blind. He'll come downstairs and navigate through every room and into the back garden.

"The only thing I can't do is move furniture around and change the layout around.

"His whiskers make up for his eyes and helps determine how far he has to move or jump.

"The other cats give him a pass, they know something’s not quite right with him - but he does rule the roost and he'll give other cats a bit of a swipe."

Laura entered Haggis into the KingPet competition on Facebook earlier this year as she thought it was "a bit of fun".

She explained: "I don't really see anybody with other cats that have disabilities so I thought I'd put his picture on.

"My friends got in touch and told me he was first in the world - it was a bit of a shock.

"Besides from the winning, we got lovely messages from people, especially from one man who said he had been blessed to have a blind cat and that it was wonderful to see Haggis.

"To think other people had recognized that a cat with a disability can win a competition is amazing."

Haggis received 455,403 votes and was awarded £2,159 in prize money which Laura and John, who have two children, are planning to spend on other rescue cats.

She said: "We're due to go on holiday to Turkey last this month and we're planning to take a full suitcase of food, medicine and toys for the stays out there.

"In other parts of the world, there are different cultural ideas around cats - they don't always have an RSPCA or a Cat's Protection to help out so we like to help where we can."