Hi all,
Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone for the amazing 'Save a Life' donation of £159.90.
This is an amazing amount, and will castrate either 23 boys or spay 12 girls through the neutering scheme, with some left over for microchipping. I will be updating regularly on this thread about how the clinics are going, numbers we're neutering, locations where the clinics are being rolled out and taking place and other info I hope will be of use. Anyone is welcome to contact me through a private message, or via the email address for the foundation: feralregisteruk@gmail.com.
So a little info on how the foundation came about, and what we're doing. Firstly, when I say 'we', I actually mean 'me'! I'm a one-man-band. I'm a locum veterinary nurse, and I set up the foundation in honour of four 12-week-old semi-feral kittens and their mum who were put to sleep due to there being no where to go at that time. This was the first time that I have not been able to transport, rehome, get into foster or rescue, and it was absolutely heartbreaking. I was at an absolute loss. I think about these kittens a lot, and while I still get very upset about what happened, someone said to me a while ago 'but they didn't lose their lives in vain, because look what you're achieving and the lives you're saving.' That's very true, and I set up the foundation to raise awareness, promote adoption and never buying, to educate, set up neuter & chip clinics to reduce overpopulation through neutering, share kittens and cats needing rehoming, start a feral register in the hope that semi-feral and feral cats can be relocated and made safe, and fundraise through cards, calendars & gifts I produce to support the clinic costs. I am also passionate in helping senior cats find loving retirement homes. I always appreciate any help with finding places for semi-ferals and ferals, fundraising, items for auctions etc, as doing this alone is a lot of hard work for one person!
I have been a member of the forum for a few years, and personally use the username MarleyMoo, so you may have seen me loitering! I’m owned by 13 cats which have come home with me as hand-reared kittens, young adults, adults and seniors. We also have 3 dogs, 3 ferrets, 5 rabbits and pigeon! The majority of my animals came from my work as a nurse, not helped by the fact I have ‘SOFT TOUCH’ tattooed on my forehead that only animals can read!!
So, some info from the neutering clinics. I joined forces with an amazingly proactive branch manager of the RSPCA East Lincs, who secured initial funding to start the clinics, and through kind donations the foundation added to the funding pot. We have a pool of volunteer vets and nurse who offer their time and travel for free to run clinics once a month on a Sunday. We also have one practice in Boston, Lincs, who run the clinics by adding cats into their daily ops list. We have a handful of veterinary practices supporting the scheme and donating their premises for free on Sundays. This is currently happening in the East Lincs area, but we are getting huge interest from a number of organisations further afield and people in high-up places, and we go out and about doing presentations so the scheme can gradually be promoted and rolled out. The clinics were 5-months in the planning stage, making sure costs, numbers, legalities, insurances, volunteers etc were finely tuned and in place.
Since February, we have neutered 96 cats and microchipped 29. This doesn’t include the ones neutered on a daily basis through the Boston practice, and I’ll update these figures soon. We offer free neutering for feral, stray and unwanted cats, along with cats from those in receipt of benefits. We also offer a low-cost neutering service for people in receipt of low income. We ask for, and receive, donations at the time of neutering, and along with the ongoing donations raised through foundation, it means we have used very little out of the neutering fund, and this ensures we can continue to run the clinics and help as many cats as posssible.
We allow 15 castrations per clinic, and 10 spays, with an allowance for 2 more spays for any ferals that are trapped late. This ensures our volunteers have a break, don’t get too stressed, and it also restricts the number of cats moving around the clinic.
I secured a deal with Pet Protect to buy microchips for £1.19 inc. VAT, and these are used in the clinics where a donation of £7 per chip is requested. This helps a lot in keeping the fund ‘topped-up’. I also donate chips to stray animals in other parts of the country so they can be implanted for free, as I believe chipping is a massively important part of owning an animal.
I also have the support of Merial, one of the largest drug companies in the world, who donate free frontline spray for use on all feral and stray cats to ensure they have some cover before being rehomed, taken to rescue, or released.
I have lots more in the planning stages, and am getting lots of supportive and useful contacts for the scheme. I’ll also update about these regularly.
The Facebook page now has 524 supporters, of which many make regular contributions and donate items for auctions. I run auctions as and when I can find the time, and the first one I ran a couple of months ago raised an amazing £280.80 for the fund. For me, this is quite overwhelming. Never did I imagine I could achieve so much, but determination and passion are amazing traits!
Anyway, please feel free to ask any questions you have, visit the website or the Facebook page, and share info about the neutering clinics. The more cats we can help and save, the better.
You can visit the foundation website at:
http://feralandstrayfoundation.co.uk/Email: feralregisteruk@gmail.com
Thanks again everyone!
Liz xxx
