Please help three kind-hearted senior couples desex their stray cat colonies

These three projects are similar. All involve retired couples in their seventies looking after colonies of stray cats on their properties. The cats require urgent desexing, vaccination and treatment for fleas and worms. One couple lives in central Dunedin, other at Long Beach and the last one in Corstorphine.

Between the three locations we need to desex over 20 cats and we desperately need your help to cover their vet bills. We need to get them done urgently! The cost of these three projects combined is going to be at least $2300. Unfortunately, that money will not magically appear in our bank account.

Corstorphine

We first met old couple from Corstorphine few months ago when our team member Mayumi responded to the call from the neighbour about stray cats on the property and went to talk to them. For some reason the old couple refused to accept our help at that stage. I assume, it was probably because they thought that neighbour complained about them, but neighbour just sincerely wanted to help. Few months down the track, when the situation escalated even further, they realized the importance of desexing the cats and called us for help. So we jumped on the chance and started trapping last week and so far desexed two of the cats very pretty grey and white girl and handsome black and white young male. We don’t even know exactly how many cats in that location, they are saying about 7, but may be more.

Long Beach:

Do you remember the story in January this year about the house of horrors at Long Beach, where over thirty cats and several dogs were locked abandoned and neglected?

We’ve recently been contacted by an old couple living across the paddock from that house. They are feeding the strays that were left behind after the SPCA and pest control removed the majority of the cats in January. They were trying to find help and contacted several organizations, but could not find any assistance until they contacted us.

Earlier this year their neighbour moved into a mobile home and asked them to look after his cat Pepper. So they started leaving out cat biscuits to encourage him to come around, which he eventually did. However, two other cats started hanging around too. The couple weren’t sure where these cats came from but suspected the house across the paddock that was eventually found to have over thirty cats. They didn’t want more cats but they could not afford to desex them as they were struggling financially. It was hard enough managing to feed them.

More cats and kittens started turning up and things became unmanageable. At one point they were looking after 12 cats. Fortunately some students who were spending a weekend at Long Beach managed to trap some of the kittens, so currently the total number of strays they are feeding is down to 8 cats. They all urgently need to be desexed before they start multiplying again!

Kaikorai valley

The third couple live in Kaikorai valley. They've been cat magnets all their lives, typically all the strays in their neighbourhood eventually end up in their backyard. Over the years they have been taking the friendly cats and kittens to the SPCA. Unfortunately they’ve recently ended up with a number of timid strays that the SPCA refuses to help with. They were relieved when someone pointed them in our direction as they were losing hope that they’d be able to stop the breeding cycle.

Currently they've got three younger wild females that took residence in their basement. You wouldn't believe the set up the old couple has provided for them! They have their own bench built next to a window with a ramp that takes them to the top where their beds are located. Their beds are also heated 24/7! Talk about 5 star accommodation!

They are adorable, but very timid and will run away and hide deep in the basement if they see anyone walking the pathway. There are also about 2 other females and at least three wild toms hanging around.  So it is quite a crowd to look after when you are on the pension, not to mention the cost of desexing them!

I will be posting the photos of the cats as we are trapping them from all of these locations.  On the weekend me and my friend Mary went to Long Beach and managed to trap two young females and one young male. You can see them here in the photos.

Please help us. Donate if you can, even if it is only $1. Every bit counts. Please also share this post with your friends and family. As a community we really must help these kind hearted people. They’ve worked hard all their lives but have now found themselves struggling to make ends meet because they can’t turn away animals in need. The worst part is knowing that their situation will get worse unless the cats are desexed urgently, and not being unable to afford the vet bills.

Thank you so much for your help so far guys. Bit by bit we are working towards getting the stray cat population down in Dunedin and toward improving their living conditions. We want every cat to have a loving home. It will take many years to get to that point. But we are not going to give up. The cats and people in this city need our help!