Grahamstown Feral Cats
* don't breed or buy while animals in shelters die *
Caring members of the community - including Rhodes University staff and students - have been taking care of feral cats for many years in Grahamstown. For a time, this carried the title of "Grahamstown Feral Cat Project (GFCP)".
Their efforts are summarised in this Grahamstown Feral Cat Project info poster:
- Trap, Neuter & Release (TNR): Volunteers humanely trap feral cats, take them to the vet to be spayed or neutered; a small V (for ‘victory’) is made in the tip of the ear to identify those that have been sterilized. They then return the cats to their colonies to live out their lives.
TNR is globally recognised as the most humane, least costly, most efficient, and sustainable way of stabilizing feral cat populations.
- Feral Cat Caretakers: Volunteers may 'adopt a colony', provide food and adequate shelter and monitor the feral cats' health.
The humane actions carried out by the "Grahamstown Feral Cat Project" volunteers are not linked to any other organisation. They rely on the assistance of Grahamstown Veterinary Clinic and on donations from the public.
The project promotes responsible pet ownership. This includes proper care (feeding, vaccination and preventative treatment against parasites, etc) and sterilisation to prevent unplanned kittens and reduce the number of homeless animals.
At UWC, a similar Feral Cat Project (TufCat) has been running with great success for many years. Research has shown TNR to be a more sustainable - and humane - approach to managing feral cat populations. Feral cats perform a useful function in controlling problem rodents. The paper, Evaluation of the effect of a long-term trap-neuter-return and adoption program on a free-roaming cat population, describes a study of 155 free-roaming cats on a university campus; the cats were trapped, neutered, then adopted or returned; the population decreased by 66% over 11 years. By contrast, removal of feral cats (through euthanasia etc) merely opens up their territory to other breeding individuals that continue to produce kittens, resulting in unsustainable population growth. This letter is attributed to a vet: Today I spayed a cat.
Get involved in the ACTION
If you are a compassionate and caring person, and would like to relieve the difficult existence of feral cats, here are some ways to help:
- Make regular donations - food or money: GRAHAMSTOWN VETERINARY CLINIC, Standard Bank account 081991215, Branch Code 050917; be sure to give the REFERENCE: W/CAT + Your Name (if possible, email Lorna on lorna.gfcp(at)gmail.com to ensure the donation is correctly allocated).
No donation is too small - nor too big for that matter! All funds go directly to neutering and caring for feral cats.
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TNR: Assist with Trap-Neuter-Release activities.
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Caretaking: Become a cat colony caretaker.
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Role-modelling: Practice responsible pet ownership.
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Awareness-raising: Raise public awareness about animal welfare.
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Fundraising: Volunteer a little of your time to help raise funds.
Need MORE INFO?
Go to the Rhodes University ENVIRONMENT front page. Suggestions/Questions? Contact environment(at)ru.ac.za
