With cancer, Maria sleeps in her car to shelter 110 dogs and cats at home
The love that she has for animals is such that she ended up giving her own house to the animals. Maria lives in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil.
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Mundo Brasil
The unconditional love for animals guides the life of the housewife Maria Benedita Thomaz Zanucoli, 60, a resident of Chácara Flora, in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil.
She uses a walker, takes daily doses of morphine due to treatment for cancer in the pelvis, but none of this prevents her from taking care (with great dedication) of 110 dogs and cats with her husband Joel Zanucoli, 56.
The love she has for animals is such that she ended up giving up her own house to the animals and the couple is sleeping in a car until they can finish building a space to shelter them, reports G1.
"We have been sleeping in the car [for about] 10 months to 1 year because inside is now the house of my four-legged children. We will stay here until I can finish making the cattery, and they can have their space and I can have mine (space) again. I do everything and more for them", said Maria.
Maria sleeps in the front seats and her husband, being taller, stays in the back in the passenger seat. Sleep is not the best, but the sacrifice is for the good of the animals, she explained.
To keep the animals fed and clean, and to pay the bills, the woman relies on donations and sells pizzas.
In addition to the challenge of living in the car, Maria has been fighting cancer for 12 years, the same time she began to rescue abandoned animals and victims of abuse.
It was after the first chemotherapy session that a dog appeared in her life. The homeless 'Magrela' was abandoned in Araraquara and Maria had no doubts about adopting her. To her surprise, the dog was pregnant and so Tor, Dara, Cher, Nina and Scooby arrived.
"I always liked animals and wanted to rescue them, but I was afraid. Then came the cancer and I thought that if God gave me strength to fight the disease, he would give me strength to take care of animals. I live on morphine and for them", she said.
A resident of a remote area in the countryside, Maria also said that dogs and cats are often abandoned in that area. The woman ends up taking them in and knows the name of each one.
Of the 110 animals, 35 are dogs and 75 are cats. All are castrated, dewormed and vaccinated, with the exception of newborn cats.
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