Animal Friends Insurance help fund neutering campaign with Shropshire Cat Rescue
(PRWEB UK) 11 October 2013 -- Shropshire Cat Rescue works to care for and rehome unwanted cats and kittens. In June, they entered the Animal Friends ‘Charity of the Month’ Facebook competition and claimed the second prize of £2,000.
The feline charity decided to use their prize to fund a neutering campaign across Shropshire. The campaign encouraged owners to neuter their pet cats by offering the procedure at a cost of only £10. The remaining £20 cost for the operation was paid for by the charity through their winnings.
Shropshire Cat Rescue offered the funding to 100 cats around the area through vouchers on a first come first serve basis. The offer was open to both those who had adopted former residents at the rescue and the general public’s pets, with a maximum of three cats per household.
A number of veterinary practices in the Shropshire area agreed to perform the procedure at a discounted rate of £30 to help promote responsible pet ownership through neutering in order to control the stray population of cats and kittens in the UK by preventing unwanted litters.
As well as offering the discounted neutering procedure, Shropshire Cat Rescue also encouraged owners to purchase a microchip for their pets while at the vets. Microchipping helps to simply track down a pets owner should the pet become lost, improving the chances of them being reunited and therefore reducing the number that end up in rescue centres when they are found with no form of identification.
Out of the 100 vouchers distributed, 60 of them went to female cats and 40 to male.
Gillian Barratt, volunteer at Shropshire Cat Rescue said: “Up and down the country the story is the same: rescues are inundated with calls for help to take in unwanted cats and kittens, while at the same time, hundreds are still being advertised for sale online. This year in particular, we have been overwhelmed at the number of requests that we receive on a daily basis from people looking to rehome their cats and unwanted kittens.
"The problem could be reduced if more cats were neutered before they have the chance to breed. A female cat can have her first litter as young as four months and can produce up to 18 kittens in a year. Unneutered tom cats are also out there every day in search of a female, further adding to the problem.
"Thanks to the £2000 donation from Animal Friends Insurance we have been able to offer a reduced cost neutering scheme which has allowed owners to have their cats neutered for just £10. The demand for the offer has been exceptionally high with all the vouchers snapped up within days of the scheme being advertised. We are delighted that we have been able to use the money in this way and our thanks go to Animal Friends for inviting us to take part in the Charity of the Month competition on Facebook; to everyone who voted for us to achieve the donation and to all the vets in Shropshire who agreed to participate.”
Notes to Editors
Animal Friends is a pet insurance specialist, founded by Elaine Fairfax in 1998 with the sole aim of providing pet insurance as a means to help support animal welfare charities. Our ethos, aims and values have enabled us to become one of the UK’s top five pet insurance providers. Animal Friends Insurance is now one of the largest independent pet insurance providers in the UK.
Johanna Paget, Animal Friends Insurance, http://www.animalfriends.co.uk/, +44 1980 666039, [email protected]
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