I saw this in the paper this morning ...............sweet ..............but would you?
A couple have cancelled their dream wedding on a beach in Jamaica after they spent more than £2,000 adopting a stray kitten on a trip to Abu Dhabi.
Nicolla Birkby and her fiance Karl Place fell in love with “Sheikh”, who was covered in flea bites, during the trip to the country in the United Arab Emirates in April. They dipped into their wedding fund to bring the cat back to their home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and have now cancelled their big day to cover the costs.
Animal lover Nicolla, 35, who works as an educational officer, and her fiance Karl, a teacher, said they could not bear to leave the injured and dehydrated kitten when they saw it wandering alone on a beach.
They contacted local animal charities in Abu Dhabi to ask them to take Sheikh in but none could help so the pair decided to adopt the sick kitten, pay for its veterinary treatment and bring it home.
It was three months before the adoption process was completed and the kitten was able to join them in the UK.
The couple had been planning their “dream” wedding since last December and Nicolla had even bought her wedding dress.
She said: “People think we are mad for cancelling our dream wedding to adopt a stray from abroad but we can get married any time. It’s not every day you meet a cat like Sheikh.
“As soon as we saw Sheikh we fell in love. We were just walking along the beach and I could see this creature. He was quite lanky, so I didn’t realise it was a cat at first.
“We stopped to feed him and realised he was badly dehydrated. His eyes were so dry that he couldn’t see the food we put in front of him. We thought he was blind.”
Nicolla, who has four other rescue cats, added: “We desperately tried not to get attached but when we left him to go sunbathing I couldn’t take my mind off him.
“Sheikh needed flea treatment, deworming and lots of other medication to get him back on track. We couldn’t wait to see him nursed back to full health. When he arrived in the UK in July we were over the moon.
“We have four other rescue cats and Sheikh is the baby of the family.”
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorLadyC
We are huge animal lovers... but no!
xx Lady Charlotte Chamberlain to be! xx
xx Marrying my soul mate on 22nd July 2016 xx
CommentAuthorTicamis2be
I am also an animal lover but wouldn't even consider it! x
I would too lol. Might 'only be a cat' but to that cat that's its life saved. That's priceless IMO
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthorGlitterfairy
My 14 yo daughter would do this for sure,
Our wedding day - 6 October 2012
CommentAuthorMichelleC961
Although it's a lovely thing to do, sometimes I wonder if people do this in the hope that someone will take pity on them and pay for their wedding etc , maybe I'm just synical but why else would you go to the papers?
CommentAuthorFlossie
A nice act, but really? Like said above, if done just from the kindness of their hearts then they wouldn't have felt the need to tell the press about it and get recognition for it. Not a selfless act in my opinion.
Happily married
18th June 2016
xx
CommentAuthorInDreamland
Good point, didn't think of it that way.
Married the love of my life on Saturday 11th May 2013 xxx
Had our dream perfect honeymoon in Hawaii!
CommentAuthorEmmilou82
I'm not an animal person so I wouldn't. You see so many strays abroad, you can't rescue them all.
I would never ever hurt an animal though x
Marrying 'The One' on 30th July 2016
I am now Mrs Emma Stokoe xx
CommentAuthorKerryBolderson2be
I don't think I would cancel mine to rescue a stray cat from another country x
Mrs Bolderson2be
Met 31st July 2012
Engaged 31st July 2013
Becoming Mrs Bolderson 14th February 2018
CommentAuthorMrs Jones
Am allergic to fur and OH hates cats, so we certainly wouldn't have done it, although bet their dream wedding goes ahead as its a bit of a pity story.
First Date 26 April 2014
Proposed 27 June 2015
Happily Married 18 June 2016
CommentAuthorBecci93
Certainly wouldn't go to the press .. I agree it appears they've used it as a sob story but I'd totally do it if I had the means to save even just one suffering animal
CommentAuthorFutureMrsW
We love our little kittens but I wouldn't really want to rehouse new cats at any available opportunity, you do see cats abroad but I've never considered bringing one home. I'm more impressed they were pulling a wedding together for only £2000 tbh.
