Nanu
Representative image

Nanu, a cat, who was close to drowning in a pond in North Assamโ€™s Tezpur, was rescued from a pond by Shruti Mishra, an Air Force official, on a rainy day.

And today she happily gorges on tuna, watches National Geographic on TV and โ€œslapsโ€ dogs.

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She also happens to be one of the ten finalists of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Indiaโ€™s Cutest Rescued Cat Alive contest, an Indian Express report said.

โ€œI was on my way to work when I spotted Nanu. She was almost dead. Her lungs had filled up with water. Unfortunately not a single veterinary doctor who treats cats practises in Tezpur. I had to rush her almost 50km away to a military hospital in the nearby town of Misamari,โ€ the digital edition of the newspaper quoted  Mishra, who heard about PETAโ€™s contest from the same military vet who saved Nanu one year ago, as saying.

PETAโ€™s annual online contest โ€š which started in 2014 is a bid to encourage people to adopt animas instead of buying them.

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โ€œWe ask people to submit their rescue stories along with the cutest photograph of their rescued animal, via an online form. Countless cats are left to languish in animal shelters because there arenโ€™t enough good homes for them,โ€ says a PETA spokesperson.

The ten โ€œfinalist catsโ€, hailing from different states from across the country, were selected among โ€œhundreds of entriesโ€ on the basis of how โ€œinspirational and motivating the submitted rescue story was.โ€

The public can now vote for their favourite cat โ€” and the winners will be announced on July 30, on the basis of vote count. PETA also has a similar contest for rescued dogs.

โ€œNanu is a lucky cat, indeed, and he has returned the favour of being rescued by bringing much love and joy into his guardianโ€™s life,โ€ says PETA India CEO Dr Manilal Valliyate. โ€œAll rescued cats are already winners because their lives were saved by people who love them for who they are,โ€ she said.

โ€œShe gives me a โ€˜meowโ€™ call at 4 am every day,โ€ she says, โ€œand that itself is my daily prize.โ€