Ka-ttitude, a non-profit organisation, was established one year ago on Wednesday (July 5).
Founders Mandy Thorpe and Tanya Kitching have made it their mission to trap, sterilise and release feral cats in Springs.
“We release the cats where we found them,” says Tanya, “because they are territorial, they chase other feral cats away.”
The cats keep to its small colony and cannot expand further.
Tanya explains companies contact them if they have feral cats on their properties which is where Ka-ttitude steps in to catch the cats for sterilisation and release them back on the premises.
“We charge a fee to the company per cat, which covers the sterilisation.”
The founders encourage the company to take the cats back on their premises as the cats catch rodents and birds that may be a problem.
When kittens are caught the organisation also sterilise and hand-rear them and then place them up for adoption at R400 per kitten.
Ka-attitude has a Facebook page where they post about their progress and all manner of other topics.
“To date, we have sterilised and released over 200 cats,” says Tanya.
“We euthanise cats only when they are sick as we do not have the funds to give them medical attention.”
Dr Thulani Mthimunye, a local veterinarian in Springs for nine years says he supported the idea of helping feral cats from the beginning.
“Sterilising feral cats control the population as well as the spread of diseases,” he says.
“If feral cats that have a disease come into contact with other animals or domesticated pets, the disease can spread to those animals and even humans.”
Thulani happily helps the organisation by sterilising the cats.
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