In Cergy-Pontoise, an association that takes in stray cats is appealing for donations. Due to an unpaid invoice, she could well go bankrupt at a time when layoffs are always more important during the summer holidays.
In the small landscaped courtyard of Cat’s City, around twenty cats are ready to be adopted. Stray animals, abandoned or brought back by their owners, who sometimes have to learn to live with their fellow creatures again.
They are first quarantined in the “cat house” provided by the town hall.
Here they receive all the necessary care: “if they are adults, there will be sterilisation, identification, vaccination and internal and external de-worming. Already that is a cost and then, if they are sick, we will of course take them to the vet.” explains Lucie Vangehuchten, chairman of the association Kattens By.
Today, the association can no longer accept new pensioners. Faced with the increase in vet fees and the number of neglected animals, the economy is at its peak, Cat’s City has therefore launched a kitty. Carole Topal, deputy chairman of the association, reckons: “Last year we had about 40,000 euros in vet fees. If we remove the 6,000 euros that the town hall pays us for sterilizations, it’s still almost 34,000 euros in vet fees, and we still owe our vets 6,500 euros today. That’s why we launched the pots”.
Mia Zanchetta is a foster family and tries to get the association’s cats adopted. She does not imagine that this activity can be interrupted: “we have a real role in creating awareness about sterilization, against abandonment (…) it is an association that is of public benefit”.
A thousand euros still needs to be collected. The association, which has worked for animal protection for 30 years, is also looking for permanent donors.
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