Soldiers are accustomed to serving others. They are the bravest of the brave.

Even retirement doesn’t stop a soldier from doing his duty. And for one veteran, he serves all creatures, not just the two-legged variety.

For more than 30 years, 79-year-old Willie Ortiz has donated his time to his city’s smallest in need group – the feral cats that live throughout Hartford, Ct.

His work isn’t easy. Ortiz spends his days searching the city for scrap metal that people have tossed out as trash. No matter what the weather is, he searches each day, while only averaging $20 to $40 per haul. But those funds help support his nights at work feeding and caring for the stray cats.

“I do this because I know no one likes the cats,” Ortiz said when asked why he does this.

I see them, and I see they need help.”

Ortiz’s drive to help the cats began in 1995, after he saw a stray cat desperately rubbing up against the legs of customers at a local auto-body shop.

Willie Ortiz, 75, pets one of his favorite cats as he feeds feral felines at one of his nightly stops, an auto body garage along Main Street. Ortiz, who collects scrap metal to fund the food, has not missed a feeding in 21-years. Photo by Peter Casolino

“People were pushing it away, and I could see it needed help,” Ortiz said. “So I said to the Lord, ‘I know these cats can’t understand my accent, but I need to do something.’”

Ortiz, a former soldier, also worked as a welder and a school bus driver in the past. But now, he tends to more than 19 colonies of stray cats, with a total of 70 felines in all. 

His nightly routine consists of 14 stops to feed and check on how each cat is doing.

He doesn’t let weather stop him, he said. Ortiz has a ‘belly gauge’ rule, though: if the snow is high enough to reach the bottom of a cat’s belly, then the cats likely won’t come out of hiding for food. He gives them extra food the following night to make up for a missed dinner.

Ortiz works to trap some cats, especially those who are pregnant. A friend fosters the cats until the babies can be adopted out. Ortiz also makes sure the strays get vaccinated and cared for when injured.

It costs Ortiz $600 a month to take care of just the food for the cats. A friend helped him set up a GoFundme, which went viral, leading to more than $337,000 in donations. 

For Ortiz, it’s all about making sure the animals get the love and care as they deserve.

Photo from GoFundMe

“People ask me why I feed them every day, or tell me I feed them too much,” Ortiz said. “You eat every day, no? You get three meals; they eat once every 24 hours.”

Despite the lateness of night and the potential for danger to himself, Ortiz keeps going out.

I pray before I leave,” said Ortiz. “And if I see people coming up to me, I talk to them, show them I’m not afraid.”

Despite Ortiz’s confidence, the location of his travels still worries .

“I do what I can to help, but he’s the one going through the back alleys and back streets, trying to take care of them,” said Haines.

Feeding the cats is only half of Ortiz’s mission, said William Haines, a doctor at Hartford Veterinary Hospital who has worked with him since day one. It’s helping to spay and neuter the cats, as well as bring awareness to what they are going through.

“He’s a good person doing God’s work,” Haines said. “It’s like Mother Theresa: She couldn’t do everything, but she could do something.”

When you ask Ortiz how long he plans to keep doing this, he just laughs.

“It’s up to God,” he said. “If He wants me to keep doing this, I’ll do it as long as I can.”

To watch this amazing man in action, check out the video below!

Sources: Courant | Daily Paws