‘Furmidable’ Pinetown NPO creates cat haven

HOW far would you go to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your four-legged, furry family member?

For the founders of the Triumphant Animal Welfare Fund in Pinetown, they flipped their entire world upside down to care for and rehome feral and unwanted felines.

With 130 cats currently under the care and protection of the non-profit organisation, its founders never knew how large the project would grow.

“We started feeding cats at Knowles SPAR and decided to trap and care for them. From two cats, we now normally have a general range from between 80 to 100 cats at any one given time,” said Clair Crook, one of the directors.

According to the NPO’s directors, David and Clair Crook, it was due to the nationwide lockdown that the number of cats in their care increased dramatically.

“Since the Covid-19 lockdown, we have increased the number of cats we have as the amount of cats that have been dumped has spiralled out of control,” said Clair.

The increase of felines on the property, which is a fully converted home, sees the founders and their handful of staff begin meal time each day at 4.30am. With a clever rotation system and large feeding cages, it almost seems like a breeze. During the day, the cats play and roam.

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Each one of the cats in its care is sterilised when they are the appropriate age. There is also a safe space for pregnant mother cats, who are then sterilised after the birth and they kittens are cared for and looked after before they are rehomed.

If their days weren’t busy enough, they also host awareness talks and outreach feeding projects as well as host feeds for feral cat colonies in and around the Highway area.

For those who would be interested in homing a cat or kitten from the no-kill non-profit organisation, a form will need to be completed and a home visit will be set up. After that there is a once-off R800 fee that covers sterilisation, vaccinations and deworming. There are a few feral and semi-feral cats in TAWF’s care that will not be rehomed, including its special needs cats.

For each cat in its care, there is a back story, some not as straightforward as an unwanted pet.

“One of our cats was so badly abused that her tail needed to be amputated. Another family just stopped feeding their cat in the hope that it would leave. It would then sneak into their neighbour’s yard and eat dog food. The neighbour has two pitbulls and they got hold of the cat,” said Clair.

Even after all of that trauma, the beautiful white cat is filled with affection and is only to happy to be scratched all over. Another one of the cat’s had its head driven over and was left for dead.

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“There are also two feral cats that use us as their home base. They come through at feeding time, sleep over for the night and then disappear during the day,” said Clair.

They organisation, including its daily food spend, spends, on average, R30 000 per month to continue running. They the also purchase other food for its outreach and feral cat feeding schemes for about R12 000 each month.

“Cats give so much back. If we had a small holding, we would take in more. More so cats because of the feral side of it and the fact that they can breed so quickly. As soon as the babies are weened, she can fall pregnant again,” said Clair.

The NPO is in need of financial and in-kind donations. Alternatively, supporters can visit the St Johns Veterinary Clinic in Pinetown and make a direct payment towards its vet bill or can purchase a Compass Cares Cats 2021 calendar, of which TAWF is a beneficiary. Volunteers are also welcome. Contact TAWF on 082 460 3188.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

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