Founder of Feral Cats Tzaneen, Karin Venter told Herald that they feed more than 250 feral cats.
She said they have been doing it for more than five years from their own pockets.
“We feed and sterilise the feral cats with our own money and receive little donations.
“Sadly we cannot continue feeding the cats without the community’s support.
“I am desparately pleading for donations,” she said.
Venter said they are also looking for funding for their trap neuter return programme (sterilising ferals and returning them to their colony), payment of veterinary bills, sourcing of cat food and overhead costs such as petrol and bank fees.
Together with her team, they spend three hours of every second day feeding the ferals.
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They have 32 feeding stations which are equal to 25 kg of cat food at every feeding station.
She said they sometimes feel overwhelmed but that it does not stop them from doing what they are passionate about.
Even during lockdown they continued to provide the much-needed service.
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Venter said she is often asked why she does what she does when she has many other priorities and has her own cat at home to tend to.
“I always tell them that it is because somewhere down the line, a human let them down, either they were dumped or their parents were dumped.
People may feed them but nobody bothers to neuter them to prevent the feral population from growing even further.
These cats are left to potentially suffer and die.”
Venter said feral cat caregivers are unsung and often misunderstood heroes.
“We may think that we are not making a difference in the world because we haven’t won a Noble Peace Prize or are not making six-figure incomes, but to those cats we have changed their entire world and that’s always enough,” she said.
She thanked Unicorn Preparatory School for their generous fundraising towards Feral Cats Tzaneen and for looking after their resident feral cat at the school named Olive.
For more information visit the Feral Cats Tzaneen Facebook page or send an email to littlewonderstzn@gmail.com.
