FAST FACTS:

Marital status: Married for 10 years
Pets: None. Still mourning the loss of his cat “Kitty”
Tattoos: Four — the angel of dawn; a shark in motion, a kitty, and my favourite — my wife as a mermaid!
Favourite food: Sushi
Favourite book: “Pimp: The Story of My Life” by Iceberg Slim
Hero: Simon Bolivar and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Despised chore: Laundry
Romance tip: Don’t check out other women while you’re out with your lady!

If you want to know anything about cats, Des Calderon — otherwise known as “Des the Cat Man” — is the go-to guy. Rescue Ink's resident feline specialist Des has dedicated years to the study, rescue and adoption of homeless cats in Manhattan, running his organization “Uptown Cats” TNR (trap, neuter and return), shelter and feeding programs.

Born in Colombia, South America, Des lived there for most of his childhood. At age 7, he remembers being beaten up by the kid across the street back. When he ran home crying to his grandmother, she refused to let him in. He needed to go back across the street and defend the family name, she said. So he did! By age 9, Des had moved with his family to Jamaica, Queens. Things were no better in the pothole-pocked streets of New York. Des started hanging out with a gang.

He then decided he might as well make a living out of juvenile delinquency and checked out a Carl Jung book on theories of personalities to learn how people interact and formulate their perception of reality. Soft-spoken and baby-faced, Des put the book’s words into practice and managed to survive the time he spent on those volatile streets. Luckily for him, his passion for motorcycling got him away from the gangs.

Des recalls his “run-in” with his first cat “Kitty” as serendipitous. The little black stray snuck into the passenger side of his cargo van while he was parked, chatting on the cell phone, and looked at him as if saying “Let’s go, dude, I’m adopting you as my human pet.” It was Des’ birthday and his wife had for some time wanted a cat, so he decided right then to bring Kitty home. Little did he know that this innocuous moment in time would forever change his life. The “Cat Man,” as he is known today, is the outgrowth of numerous cat-related experiences that started on that day. Now Des knows that the smallest things can bring the greatest change, and that black cats are bad luck only if you’re a mouse.