Catsnip Polokwane looks after our city’s feral cats
"We believe that all animals deserve a fair chance in life, to be healthy and safe," Evette van Wyk and Kirsty Cawood, along with Irene Schempers, co-founders of Catsnip.
POLOKWANE – Stray cats have become an issue, not only for businesses but also for households in the city and many have taken to poison to rectify the situation, killing these homeless felines.
A new organisation called Catsnip has stepped in to help take care of these cats in order to save them from from a fate suffered by most of their kind.
Evette van Wyk and Kirsty Cawood, along with Irene Schempers, co-founders of Catsnip believe that all animals deserve a fair chance in life, to be healthy and safe. “That is why I came up with the idea to help feral cats in the community,” says Irene.
Catsnip’s first fundraiser took place in September 2015 at CrossFit Games of Fun –Â the organisation has managed to generate funds by selling food and drinks at local sporting events.
“The humane control of free-roaming cats in Polokwane and surrounding areas are very important. This will reduce the spread of Feline Aids and Feline Leukemia, which in return, also effects household cats. It is important to make businesses and people aware of feral cats and how a healthy feral cat colony can be beneficial in rodent control,” Irene tells Review.
“Catsnip makes use of Trap-Neuter-Release(TNR) programmes to control the feral cat population, and is determined to educate the community. They want to ensure the feral cats do not continue to breed and that the cats are healthy when taken back to their environment.
“We also assist businesses and organisations with neutered feral cats, implementing feeding stations and bedding. This ensures ongoing relations between Catsnip and businesses,” explains Irene.
She says all animals, pets and other, must be respected in our environment. The animals need care, even if they are not pets. They are clean animals and if their environment is kept clean and free of garbage and other waste food sources, they serve as very effective rodent control.
“Feral cats are a part of the eco-system and are valuable in the management of rodents. By effectively managing their populations through TNR, we aim to minimise over population, pesky cats, disease within the populations and foster a caring attitude within the public domain,” explains Irene.
The cats in our city, household and other, face a real problem with Cat HIV and Leukemia. It affects over half the population of feral cats in our city, not to mention the ones in our homes. It is contagious and contracted through mucus, blood exchange and there is no cure.
Cats are being shot, severely harmed by pellet guns, or whole colonies killed by poison, leaving orphaned kittens to starve to death. Frustration and lack of information about feral cat epidemics always results in these violent techniques. These in turn have an impact on the environment and causes a lot of unnecessary medical bills and heartache for pet owners whose pets are caught in the crossfire.
“On the positive side, we have seen wonderful people come forward to adopt the castaway kittens, as well as some unexpected heroes that have come forward and supported us, going out of their way to save cats, donate toward the cause, rally more support and advocate justice in some instances,” reports Irene.
You can become part of the Catsnip volunteering in 4 ways:
– Become part of the TNR process. This is time consuming, and a bit graphic as the cats are sometimes in poor condition and there are cases where cats need to be euthanised.
– Become a fundraiser volunteer. We sell drinks and snacks at local events, sport days and festivals for funds for veterinarian costs, cat shelters and food as well as educating people about TNR.
• Become a foster mom or dad. We find a lot of kittens who have been abandoned or the mother has died.
• Become a caretaker. You will be assigned to a colony of cats, you will feed them now and again and also keep an eye out for them to make sure they stay healthy.
“We are a group of business women who volunteer our free time during the week to catch, neuter, and release feral cats. We work remotely. Charity starts at home, but we would like to expand our boundaries beyond Polokwane.
“We need to take responsibility for our pets and the environment and most importantly spay/ neuter our pets. Let’s respect each other and also the animals in our community,” she concludes.
Anyone interested in becoming part of the programme can e-mail Irene on catsnippolokwane@gmail.com.
