A 35-year-old man nicknamed "Old Cat" and founder of Wuhan Cat Rescue Station has rescued more than 1,500 homeless cats in the last five years, spending 130,000 yuan ($20,629), which was earmarked for his house down payment. Seeing no future, his wife left him in 2011 after five years of marriage. Old Cat is now in a desperate crisis of having to ask for help with rental fees on the Internet for the first time on Feb 13, Wuhan Evening News reported.

Old Cat is originally from Yichang and once taught at Wuhan University. He established his rescue station in 2007 in a 150-square-meter shabby house in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. A reporter from Wuhan Evening News visited on Feb 14 and saw 60 rescued cats, "40 of whom has a broken leg or are blind," Old Cat said.

In 2006, Old Cat raised a cat, then entered the world of raising cats. The next year, he rented a house and established his own rescue station, which rescued 350 homeless cats by 2008.

Old Cat said: "I understand my ex-wife. We had no house of our own, no child and no future that I can give her." However, he doesn't want these cats to become homeless again.

Old Cat now works at a training school and earns 3,000 yuan (about $476) a month. He has to pay for the cat food and the salary of one employee at his rescue station, with no money left for the 2,500 yuan in rent. His love for homeless cats has moved numerous people around the country and brought more than 7,000 yuan in donations.