Translated material
“Cats are not the property of the institution.” How Gregory Winter saved cats, was baptized and found his son in the snow
Gregory Marcus Severin Winter left correctional colony No. 5 in the Kirov region on the morning of December 30. He spent two years and one month in prison.
Gregory carried out of the colony a bag with eighteen kilograms of letters from strangers from different parts of the world. The bag was weighed at the post office when he sent it from Kirov to his place in Cherepovets. Shortly before his release, he wrote in all his letters to be met and helped with his trunks, but no one met him at the gates of the colony.
As Winter says, after his release, he went to help the men who had been released on the same day as him, who got drunk and were late for the train to Moscow. On December 31, he went to pick up the cats that were waiting for him in foster care, and before that they lived in a correctional colony. The prisoners did not want to allow cats into the barracks, so Gregory came up with a scheme: he would take the cats, “pack” them in a cardboard box, and wrap it with tape so that they would not jump out. The prisoner who was about to be released warned the colony staff that he would not be released alone and took the cats with him - a volunteer had already intercepted them outside the gate. Prisoners usually did not refuse, but almost all asked for money.
“There were never any questions from the administration. The person who “goes to the call” has the right to take anything with him, as long as it is not the property of the institution. Cats are not the property of the institution. You can endure even five, even ten – no one will say a word,” explains Winter.
In conclusion, he kept a table with the names of rescued animals: Borzik the cat, Khitrusha the cat, “kittens from the industrial area” and others, twenty-two rescues in total. Most settled in the shelter, but four cats waited for Winter to be free. Having freed himself, he brought them to a rented apartment, released them there, and went for a walk around Kirov.