Kittens found in rubbish bins, a 3-month-old puppy thrown over a gate at 3 a.m., and every day this litany of calls asking to care for new litters. In the world of animal welfare, pink notebooks cause sleepless nights and are rarely cause for celebration.
The Esmavuda association – “hope” in Gascon – has only existed for eight months, but already has a long list as a rescue and care arm to its credit. It is growing even more recently, with the increase in the birth of kittens and, as a result, abandonments. Its 60 volunteers and 34 host families are…
Kittens found in rubbish bins, a 3-month-old puppy thrown over a gate at 3 a.m., and every day this litany of calls asking to care for new litters. In the world of animal welfare, pink notebooks cause sleepless nights and are rarely cause for celebration.
The Esmavuda association – “hope” in Gascon – has only existed for eight months, but already has a long list as a rescue and care arm to its credit. It is growing even more recently, with the increase in the birth of kittens and, as a result, abandonments. Its 60 volunteers and 34 host families are overwhelmed.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” laments Yohann Ragueneau, treasurer at Esmavuda. Currently we have at least two calls a day to take care of kittens. This morning I have already made three phone calls. We are a new association and we are overwhelmed like the others. I feel like it’s a bottomless pit. »
A complaint filed
Especially since climate change has an impact on the cat’s reproduction. “Kitten season”, as they nicely say, stretches longer and longer. “The females come into heat earlier,” confirms Sylvie Torres, secretary of the association. Before there were actually two breeding periods a year, but today it is almost all the time, although we have a little less in the winter. »
1eh In May, the association based in Mont-de-Marsan found nine kittens found in a rubbish bin. “They were barely a week old, they had to have a bottle,” recalls Yohann Ragueneau. We filed a complaint. In the meantime, we have divided the kittens into three foster families, of which we are one. And every four hours we coat the bottles. »
At this rate, host families are saturated, which sometimes prevents care and creates misunderstanding. Doing what we can is not always enough as the needs are great. “Even if we cannot take responsibility, we at least react. If we don’t, it will inevitably send negative results. Communication for a small association like ours is key. »
Call host families
Hence this call for sterilization of cats, male and female, to limit breakage. A little reinforcement from the host families would also be welcome. “There is never enough,” says Sylvie Torres. You need to know that we provide the equipment, the food and we cover vet costs. We even provide the toys. You just need to have a room available to leave the cats in a safe environment or to isolate them in case of illness. We handle the rest. »
The problem arises especially for dogs: Esmavuda has only four dog foster families in the entire area. Still, the needs are there. Two litters of puppies were found in rubbish bins last December. “We had 14 puppies that we adopted in one month. For dogs that are already adults, it’s more complicated. We have a 2-year-old dog, Tequila, who is a girlfriend and still hasn’t been adopted. »
Field research
Hence Esmavuda’s plan to create a shelter. “The idea is to be able to respond to this care of dogs and to relieve the host families a little. It is also for our 60 volunteers who are impatient and to have a place where we can all gather. »
For the time being, the association continues to look for the ideal site for its project. “The rule is that we must settle at least 100 meters from homes, but we would like more. We would like to be established under good conditions. »Once the land has been validated, the difficulty will be “to build on it, to make arrangements, servicing and financing. »
“There is a demand from veterinary services, from the police station with which we cooperate and often from vets who call us to take animals,” sums up Yohann Ragueneau. Afterwards, we need the will behind it, to make things a little easier for us. »
Rescue, collections and donations
Currently, the association is closely following the case of Walibi, a setter-cross puppy “with maybe a bit of cocker spaniel”. “It’s a 3-month-old puppy that we threw at 3am over a gate, in the rain,” sums up Yohann Ragueneau. He was taken care of by the association and a host family then started vomiting and having diarrhoea. The test for parvovirus, an extremely serious disease that requires urgent intensive care, came back positive. Go to the veterinary clinic where Walibi fought every day to survive. A fundraiser has been opened on Esmavuda’s Facebook page to fund his care, which should amount to 700 euros, maybe more. The association communicated good news on social networks this Sunday, June 30: Walibi has left the clinic and will be cared for by the veterinarian who treated him.
“As we are less than a year old, we cannot claim any subsidy,” emphasizes Yohann Ragueneau. We create prize pools when there are big operations and we live on memberships, donations, the online store… We also organize collections to have kip, waste, milk to redistribute to host families, it is essential for us. “The next one will take place on Saturday 6 July at Intermarché, avenue Kennedy in Mont-de-Marsan.
