"BEIRUT There are several things that make the American University of Beirut unique. Among them are its 160-year-old liberal arts education in the center of the Middle East. There is its seaside location in a cosmopolitan capital. But hands down, the college's most unusual feature is its campus cats as many as 1,600 of them. The cat rescue started during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s when animals sought shelter from street fighting in the 1980s on its campus in the downtown Hamra area."
"There were serious, severe street battles around here, around the university and in Hamra and everywhere. So the cats flocked to AUB en masse because this seemed like protection for them. And they stayed," says AUB staff member Henry Matthews of the civil war era. Beirut has seen more than its share of war the latest was a year of fighting between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel that began in late 2023. Israel is still launching attacks."
""Many people dumped their cats because they don't have any home for them," says veterinarian Rana Bou Khalil, who runs two clinics teeming with cats. Bou Khalil, who says AUB is a magnet for pet owners who believe their cats will be taken care of if they leave them near the campus, says she has spayed or neutered 1,000 cats in the past two years."
The American University of Beirut hosts an estimated 1,200 to 1,600 feral and abandoned cats on its Hamra campus. The cat population began when animals sought shelter during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s and expanded after recent conflicts and a severe financial crisis led many people to abandon pets. Veterinarian Rana Bou Khalil operates two clinics that treat, vaccinate, and sterilize cats; she spayed or neutered about 1,000 cats in two years. Cats brought to clinics receive vaccination and sterilization. The campus functions as a refuge and a magnet for owners who leave cats nearby, and clinics care for sick and blind animals and litters.
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