Cats - Neutering and Rehoming from Turkish North Cyprus

Hi, my name is Patricia (Pat) Crew.

My story is not unique as there have been and are many people who care for animals as much as my husband and I.

About 11 years ago we visited the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus and saw many cats and dogs starving and skinny beyond belief.

Where we stayed in a residential area we were amazed to see so many cats and kittens trying to find food, some looking so thin and emaciated it was heartbreaking.

One evening we saw a little family - mother and two kittens - on the lawn in front of our apartment, so we started to feed them. Word must have got round the cat community because soon there were many new arrivals every day - cats of all sizes, big and small, black, white, ginger, tortoiseshell and, sadly, among these were many abandoned pets. We knew they were abandoned because they were not afraid of humans and allowed us to stroke them and pick them up, unlike the stray and feral cats.

We named all the cats we fed because that gave them their identity and individuality. The list is too long but I am naming the abandoned pets:

George (I rescued him from 3 dogs that were tearing him apart)

Foxy

Whisky

Charles

Claude

Blenks

Grumpy

Thumper

Leo

Lucinda

Kit

Abigail

Cyril (he had only one eye, the other had been removed by a vet as it looked a very neat operation)

Henry (Hope4PetsNorthCyprus) managed to rehome him in the UK)

All of these cats at some time had owners who abandoned them when they left the country if not before, and sadly many of them were British.

Over the years we have fed no fewer than 25 cats at a time and when we are not here we pay someone to look after them.

We feed them, paid to have them neutered and spayed, rush them to the vet when they are ill and have paid all the fees for operations, illnesses and put to sleep when they have been too ill to live. We cannot really afford to do this, but we feel it is imperative to give these animals a chance.

Against this background, I found two kittens, a little light grey one I have named Freda, and a black and white little fellow I called Billy, wandering into our front garden trying to find food. I had left some out for a mother cat with her three kittens - Benny, Jenny, both black and white, and a grey and white one, Kenny! (We have since had the mother cat spayed).

Freda and Billy were not more than 4-6 weeks old and they were trying to fend for themselves!

The trouble here is that the children take these kittens from their mothers to play with them and when they get bored, they just dump them. The children's parents don't seem to tell them that kittens are not toys or playthings and not to touch them, but there you have it.

I put Freda and Billy up for adoption on my FaceBook page and a friend of mine would like to adopt them. But, it costs money and the amount needed is out of her reach.

So, the money I need now is to pay for these two kittens to be re-homed in safety in the UK. .

I need £3,107 to cover their pet passports and neutering.

Here is a breakdown of the figures:

Flight for two cats @ £800.00 each £1,600.00

UK Customs @ £310.00 each £ 620.00

2 Crates @ £68.00 each £ 136.00

Microchip @ £47 each £ 94.00

4 Rabies vaccinations, 2 per cat (3 weeks

apart) £ 84.51

2 Rabies Serology test £210 each £ 420.00

Neutering of Billy £ 70.40

Spaying of Freda £ 82.10

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Total for Freda and Billy: £3,107.01

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So, as you can see, I really need your help.

My aim here in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus is to have a neutering/spaying programme for all cats and Bob, my husband, supports me as he is often called upon to pay as well.

I need about £1,000 a month which would go quite a long way to helping the local charities here.

The Charities do an amazing job but they, too, are strapped for cash, so the more help I can give them, would be more than welcome.

This is such a small island enclave that it really should be quite easy to keep the stray/feral cat and dog population down, but sadly it is a great problem here, in which a lot of cats suffer.

If you can find it in your hearts to help me re-home Freda and Billy in the UK, I would be truly grateful.

So, please, tell your friends and relatives to give to this very worthy cause.