He was living on the streets of London at 19, and turned to drugs for comfort.
But about 5 years ago, James Bowen, 33, faced a turning point when he found an injured and starving cat hiding at the stairwell of the building he stayed in.
The cat was covered with so much glue that only the tiny tuft of white fur between its shut eyes gave you a clue to its colour.
It had been caught on a glueboard trap placed by a pest control company at an HDB bin centre. The board, measuring 1.2m by 1.5m, is used for catching rats.
SHE WAS relieved when her husband said he would take their cat Scuzzi to an animal shelter after deciding to give it up for fighting with its siblings.