Urgent appeal

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Urgent appeal

Postby Symi Animal Welfare » 07 Jun 2014, 13:12

As more and more summer visitors arrive on the island, we are receiving almost daily telephone calls concerning kittens. After a particularly anxious message yesterday concerning 2 motherless litters, I contacted several colleagues on Rhodes asking for advice and help, only to discover that the shelters are already full; one organisation is even sending cats to Germany for re-homing.

We are only a small group of volunteers and rely upon your incredible support, but I have to remind you that, whilst we do everything possible to help the street-cats of Symi, we don't have a shelter or full-time carers/nurses for sick and abandoned animals. How wonderful that situation would be, yet not a reality.unless someone comes forward to offer their services? Any offers or practical ideas?

It is heart-breaking to see any animal suffer and extremely distressing when spotting a very young one apparently abandoned. A nursing mother will occasionally leave young ones to investigate a safer location, to seek food and water for herself, or simply to toilet. Usually exhausted, the nursing mother may sometimes fall asleep, leaving her litter for longer than anticipated. During her absence, if the little ones have been touched by a concerned passer-by, she won't recognise the scent upon her return so possibly not re-accept it; she definitely won't be interested should the well-wisher decide to remove a kitten completely then take it back to the initial location a few days later. Keep a check on any lone kitten, the reason for the crying is more than likely cos he's hungry, but, unless in a dangerous place, don't move it. Yes indeed, some mothers tragically do die they're too young themselves, too small physically, have an accident or eat poison, leaving a truly abandoned litter but this isn't necessarily a negative situation, hard to believe as it is. Especially during the summer months when waste-bins are full of scraps and visitors leave biscuits and other food-stuffs, stronger ones manage to survive into adulthood and will often be recognised by a winter-feeding volunteer. The life of a canny island cat cannot be compared to those living in secure, pampered homes elsewhere, this is hard to accept but unfortunately fact.

Finally, we predicted that the cat population would increase rapidly as time went on; certain individuals + bureaucracy prevented any neutering programmes on the island for several years. A UK vet did visit in November and then again a couple of weeks ago, but in such short periods, the cats neutered are sadly, 'only scratching the surface'. Without assistance from either local councils or larger charities soon, we are struggling, we desperately need more resident, active volunteers to come forward, please offer your help and time. Thankyou, Melanie
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