Help Bring Maly's Cats to England!
Donation protected
One year ago my husband, my daughter and I were on our way to the zoo just outside of Phnom Penh, when we stopped at a shop by the side of the road to buy some Rambutans. It was there that we saw four bedraggled looking kittens, no older than three weeks. Malnourished and dirt-riddled, they looked they wouldn't survive another day. Immediately I picked them up, as I always do, and the shop-keeper told me that her son (an adult) abuses them; throwing them across the floor, hitting them and kicking them for no apparent reason at all. Naturally, I was enraged, these kittens were barely able to walk and my tolerance for animal abusers is extremely lacking. It was clear that nobody was taking care of these little creatures and that their death was imminent, if not by one of the many cars speeding past the busy road in front of the shop, then by the hands of a very disturbed grown man.
"Take them!" she urged me, "Take them!". My husband rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming, my daughter's eyes lit up as I put them in the car one by one.
There were four kittens in the litter; three girls and one boy who were named Virginia Woolf, Jeanette Winterson, Margret Atwood and Oscar Wilde (you can tell I love literature). They became a part of our home and each morning Maly would be overjoyed to wake up and check on them, helping with their feeding routine. Sadly just a month later Margret Atwood was run over right in front of our house, a horrific incident that Maly witnessed and something which she still gets upset about today.
Not long after rescuing this litter, I saw a post on Facebook about two kittens that were stuck in the wall of a cafe in Phnom Penh. The kittens had been there for three days already, whining for help with no access to food or water. It was clear from their cries that they were extremely young and the mother cat was nowhere to be found. The woman who discovered their cries urged the waiters in the cafe to assist in getting them out, however they were extremely reluctant to do so. In the end with great perseverance, the woman was able to convince them to do the right thing and the cats were rescued.
Shortly after the rescue the woman advertised on Facebook in order to get them re-homed. The woman had already 30+ cats in her possession and was unable to keep them. Cats in Cambodia are viewed as vermin, therefore it is extremely hard to re-home them. I knew that it would be hard to find someone to take them in, so I did.
Both kittens were boys, and we named them Gizmo and James (Joyce). Unfortunately just a few days after their rescue, James Joyce fell unexpectedly ill and past away without warning. The vet told us that it was extremely common with rescued cats, not knowing what hereditary diseases they may have. Again this was heartbreaking for both Maly and I.
Today our four cats are; Virginia, Jeanette, Gizmo and Oscar. They are a part of our family and we hope that they can continue to be. Maly adores these cats and talks about them all the time. Having them has taught her the importance of caring for living creatures as she takes pride in feeding them, playing with them and giving them lots of affection.
After living for ten years in Cambodia, this year we have decided to relocate back to the UK. Now that we have two children and are finally eligible for my husband to apply for his spouse visa, we are currently going through the motions of making the move as smooth and as quick as possible. Due to the short time-frame provided to apply due to the potential expiration of our evidence, the move is going to be extremely quick, at a time when we are also currently awaiting the arrival of our new born baby. Right now we are in the process of preparing for our little ones arrival while trying to pack up and prepare for our move to the UK. If we do not apply within the next couple of months, we will no longer be eligible to apply which would result in 8 months of separation for my husband and our family.
We know that re-homing the cats in Cambodia is going to be virtually impossible, as the only likely candidates to adopt cats are expats who remain in Cambodia temporarily, resulting in them most likely having to be re-homed again, we would like to do all that we can to ensure we have tried everything to get them back here with us. Many expats in Cambodia adopt cats with good intentions but end up having to dump them back on the streets because they're unable to afford the relocation fees. This is something we will not do, but we need all the help we can get!
Naturally we are going to have huge expenditures accompanied with our move to the UK. Visa fees will be plus £5, 000 all in all, then there's housing deposits and first months rental fees, living costs and flights. The added costs of shipping the cats over here seems virtually impossible to achieve right now, which is why we have started this Go Fund Me Page in order to receive all the help we can get.
In order to be able to relocate our cats to the UK we need a total of: £1,880 pounds or $2440 US dollars. Below is a break down of all the fees we need to pay out in preparation of their import to the UK.
This money will go to:
- Microchips $45.00 each x 4 = $180.00
- Microchip Certificates $10 x 4 = $40.00
- Rabies Vaccination $10.00 x 4 = $40.00
- Vet certificate $45.00 x 4 = $180.00
- Blood serology test $180.00 each x 4 = $720.00
- Export certificate $60.00 x 4 = $240.00
- EU import permit $60.00 x4 = $240.00
- Screw worm tablet $15.00 x 4 = $60.00
- Flights $40 USD per kilogram x 5kg per kilogram including crate = $160 per cat x 4 = $640.00 (minimum, could be more)
Cat crates $25.00 each x 4 = $100.00
Total needed in USD: $2440.00
Total needed in GBP: £1,880 (approx.)
As our pets first need to have a serology test to prove they don't have rabies, which will take at least 2 months to receive the results, we need these funds as soon as possible. Donating even the smallest amount will help us greatly.
As a thank you for helping, my husband is willing to offer his helping hand with anyone who may need help with a job that needs his manual labour and Jim'll Fix It type of skills! Need your grass cutting? Got something that needs fixing? Need an IKEA shelf put up? Want your bins sorted out? Tola will do one job over the next 12 months for every person that donates and helps us get our beloved pets to the UK - no matter how big or small your donation is! * Available to anyone who donates locally.
In addition, I would be willing to help provide advice or one-off tutoring support for a child in English for anyone who donates to our cause. Again this will be available to anyone locally or can be offered via Skype/Messenger video call. If there's anything else you feel we could help you with as a thank you for supporting our campaign that do let us know! We'd be keen to help and payback in anyway we can!
Please note:If we are unable to raise enough funds for the cats to be relocated with us then we will search for forever homes for them and use all the funds donated and give to Animal Mama Veternary Clinic Cambodia who work tirelessly to help animals all throughout the country.
Thank you to anyone who supports our fundraising campaign. Your support is appreciated beyond words!
Yours sincerely, Maly, Natalie and Tola (oh, and of course the cats!)
"Take them!" she urged me, "Take them!". My husband rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming, my daughter's eyes lit up as I put them in the car one by one.
There were four kittens in the litter; three girls and one boy who were named Virginia Woolf, Jeanette Winterson, Margret Atwood and Oscar Wilde (you can tell I love literature). They became a part of our home and each morning Maly would be overjoyed to wake up and check on them, helping with their feeding routine. Sadly just a month later Margret Atwood was run over right in front of our house, a horrific incident that Maly witnessed and something which she still gets upset about today.
Not long after rescuing this litter, I saw a post on Facebook about two kittens that were stuck in the wall of a cafe in Phnom Penh. The kittens had been there for three days already, whining for help with no access to food or water. It was clear from their cries that they were extremely young and the mother cat was nowhere to be found. The woman who discovered their cries urged the waiters in the cafe to assist in getting them out, however they were extremely reluctant to do so. In the end with great perseverance, the woman was able to convince them to do the right thing and the cats were rescued.
Shortly after the rescue the woman advertised on Facebook in order to get them re-homed. The woman had already 30+ cats in her possession and was unable to keep them. Cats in Cambodia are viewed as vermin, therefore it is extremely hard to re-home them. I knew that it would be hard to find someone to take them in, so I did.
Both kittens were boys, and we named them Gizmo and James (Joyce). Unfortunately just a few days after their rescue, James Joyce fell unexpectedly ill and past away without warning. The vet told us that it was extremely common with rescued cats, not knowing what hereditary diseases they may have. Again this was heartbreaking for both Maly and I.
Today our four cats are; Virginia, Jeanette, Gizmo and Oscar. They are a part of our family and we hope that they can continue to be. Maly adores these cats and talks about them all the time. Having them has taught her the importance of caring for living creatures as she takes pride in feeding them, playing with them and giving them lots of affection.
After living for ten years in Cambodia, this year we have decided to relocate back to the UK. Now that we have two children and are finally eligible for my husband to apply for his spouse visa, we are currently going through the motions of making the move as smooth and as quick as possible. Due to the short time-frame provided to apply due to the potential expiration of our evidence, the move is going to be extremely quick, at a time when we are also currently awaiting the arrival of our new born baby. Right now we are in the process of preparing for our little ones arrival while trying to pack up and prepare for our move to the UK. If we do not apply within the next couple of months, we will no longer be eligible to apply which would result in 8 months of separation for my husband and our family.
We know that re-homing the cats in Cambodia is going to be virtually impossible, as the only likely candidates to adopt cats are expats who remain in Cambodia temporarily, resulting in them most likely having to be re-homed again, we would like to do all that we can to ensure we have tried everything to get them back here with us. Many expats in Cambodia adopt cats with good intentions but end up having to dump them back on the streets because they're unable to afford the relocation fees. This is something we will not do, but we need all the help we can get!
Naturally we are going to have huge expenditures accompanied with our move to the UK. Visa fees will be plus £5, 000 all in all, then there's housing deposits and first months rental fees, living costs and flights. The added costs of shipping the cats over here seems virtually impossible to achieve right now, which is why we have started this Go Fund Me Page in order to receive all the help we can get.
In order to be able to relocate our cats to the UK we need a total of: £1,880 pounds or $2440 US dollars. Below is a break down of all the fees we need to pay out in preparation of their import to the UK.
This money will go to:
- Microchips $45.00 each x 4 = $180.00
- Microchip Certificates $10 x 4 = $40.00
- Rabies Vaccination $10.00 x 4 = $40.00
- Vet certificate $45.00 x 4 = $180.00
- Blood serology test $180.00 each x 4 = $720.00
- Export certificate $60.00 x 4 = $240.00
- EU import permit $60.00 x4 = $240.00
- Screw worm tablet $15.00 x 4 = $60.00
- Flights $40 USD per kilogram x 5kg per kilogram including crate = $160 per cat x 4 = $640.00 (minimum, could be more)
Cat crates $25.00 each x 4 = $100.00
Total needed in USD: $2440.00
Total needed in GBP: £1,880 (approx.)
As our pets first need to have a serology test to prove they don't have rabies, which will take at least 2 months to receive the results, we need these funds as soon as possible. Donating even the smallest amount will help us greatly.
As a thank you for helping, my husband is willing to offer his helping hand with anyone who may need help with a job that needs his manual labour and Jim'll Fix It type of skills! Need your grass cutting? Got something that needs fixing? Need an IKEA shelf put up? Want your bins sorted out? Tola will do one job over the next 12 months for every person that donates and helps us get our beloved pets to the UK - no matter how big or small your donation is! * Available to anyone who donates locally.
In addition, I would be willing to help provide advice or one-off tutoring support for a child in English for anyone who donates to our cause. Again this will be available to anyone locally or can be offered via Skype/Messenger video call. If there's anything else you feel we could help you with as a thank you for supporting our campaign that do let us know! We'd be keen to help and payback in anyway we can!
Please note:If we are unable to raise enough funds for the cats to be relocated with us then we will search for forever homes for them and use all the funds donated and give to Animal Mama Veternary Clinic Cambodia who work tirelessly to help animals all throughout the country.
Thank you to anyone who supports our fundraising campaign. Your support is appreciated beyond words!
Yours sincerely, Maly, Natalie and Tola (oh, and of course the cats!)
Organizer
Natalie Hayes
Organizer
