Three lost friends

1. Lail
Lail was a tiny black alley-kitten, tamed slowly with food to become astoundingly responsive and affectionate. She appeared instantly when whistled for, and fled from strangers unless introduced. Lail slipped away to bear her second litter of kittens in February 2003, days before the migration to the Gulag. She, or her offspring, may inhabit those dusty alleyways still.

2. Moon-Cat
Moon-Cat was a dainty, black-and-white Pierrot-faced feline who lived in the bushes around Cell Block G. Already tame, perhaps someone's rejected pet, she bore several litters of kittens, suffering at least one terrible tragedy:

"Moon-Cat stands over the lifeless fur, nudging it and yowling, trying to make it move. Eventually a neighbour removes it from her and gives it as dignified a dustbin-burial as possible. Moon-Cat spends the rest of the day searching for her dead cub, confused and distressed."

Moon-Cat disappeared in early 2005, at the same time Gulag authorities announced a plan to "deal with the problem" of feral cats. A couple of her wild children, now grown, are occasionally seen flitting through the undergrowth.

3. Cloud
Visitors to Jebel Ali Cloob will remember Cloud. She was a shy but affectionate, fluff-haired animal, the colour of dark wood and smoke, who wandered around the restaurant terrace. Beloved by many, she was a clean and quiet animal that children loved to pet. Cloud vanished in 2005, after alleged complaints - "the local people, they don't like cats" one waiter confided. He claimed the municipality rounds up cats and "releases" (=dumps) them somewhere around Al Quoz, rather than euthanases them.

A shy, sweet animal such as Cloud would die a thousands deaths in an arid, friendless wilderness: it is unlikely she lives still.