Inhumane dumping of kittens ‘would break your soul’
The Community Cats Network is making a plea to the public after a surge in the inhumane and horrific dumping of kittens at roadsides in recent weeks.
On Tuesday of last week, a woman out walking came across a 5 week old kitten on the side of the Fermoy Road outside Mitchelstown. A volunteer from the charity was called to the site.
Generally, if there is one cat, there will be more. The volunteer walked along the side of the road until she noticed a swarm of bluebottles, under which a newborn kitten lay, covered in maggots, eggs, and with cuts to his eyes, while another swarm of bluebottles revealed three other kittens, all dehydrated from the heat.
Of the five kittens found on the day, only two are still alive. The others had to be euthanised, or else died as a result of their brutal heartless treatment.
Local Jackie Graham, a volunteer with the Community Cats Network, is pleading with the public to have their cats neutered as soon as they can. The charity offers a neutering service, based on the population management principle of TNR - Trap, Neuter and Return.
‘IT MAKES NO SENSE’
Jackie is pleading with the public to take action as soon as they can and get their animals spayed.
“We are here to help. Once people make contact with us, that proves they have some compassion and they are doing what they need to do to resolve the problem. I have respect for those people, and I urge them to contact us as soon as possible.
“The service is 100% confidential. We will come to the property, trap and neuter the cats. We wait until we are invited onto the property, but really, making the call to us is a sign of compassion, and we are offering a solution.”
“We volunteer all throughout the winter, and most vets have traps you can hire yourself. There is no need for these animals to be born to die like that. It makes no sense.”
Female kittens can get pregnant as young as four months old, and gestation is nine weeks, meaning one cat can have a number of litters in one season.
“A cat can have three litters throughout the summer. She can be feeding kittens and get pregnant again, and yet again. If there are females in the litter, one cat very quickly turns into 50 cats.”
Jackie has personally dealt with 10 separate abandoned cats in the last two weeks, and the problem is getting worse.
“We have to get the message out there. There is a solution and you need to take it. Tuesday would break your soul. The cruelty is unimaginable. I’ve dealt with cats that have been shot, that have been snared. This has to stop. We’ve gone out to farms and neutered 40 cats in one sitting.”
In the last five years, the Community Cats Network has neutered about 1,000 cats in TheAvondhu area, and they are only one of several groups offering this service, all voluntary organisations. They are not an animal rescue service, but the volunteers will take in injured and sick cats when there is no alternative.
If you want to avail of the services of the Community Cats Network and neuter cats on your property, you can call the charity on 089-4686055. The service is completely confidential.