Overwhelmed Tala cat park issues SOS

[memory man]

Tala cat park, home to hundreds of the island’s stray and unwanted cats, have issued an urgent appeal for help as they are in dire need of volunteers.

“We desperately need the public’s help as we are running on just a few volunteers, and we are running out of steam. Everyone wants our help, but we can’t continue without some help in return. With more and more cats and kittens being dumped and brought in on a daily basis and no extra help, we don’t know how we can carry on,” the cat park, a registered charity, said on social media.

All volunteers are welcome, from an hour a day or a full day at the park, any help would be greatly appreciated, they said.

“You only need to do jobs that you feel happy and comfortable with. It could be feeding the cats, prepping the food, helping to sweep the park, washing up, spring cleaning the cloisters or cleaning out the kitten rooms.”

The cat park has suffered greatly during and after the lockdown. Many of those that helped during lockdown have had to return to work but an increasing number of kittens are being dumped or brought in, and the workload is increasing.

“It’s been a horrendous time at the park, and we are getting around five to 10 personal requests daily to take more cats in. We are having to turn these down due to idiots dumping their unwanted animals,” the group announced.

The cat park, which is a sanctuary for cats, has literately no more space left.

“We are having to put newly dumped kittens with ones we already have with good health as we have no spare quarantine pens. This puts all of them in danger as one infected kitten can pass it on to all of the rest.”

In one instance, shelter manager Dawn Foote was feeding kittens inside their pen, when a woman arrived with a cat carrier with kittens inside.

She told Foote that she had travelled from Limassol and had telephoned, and although the call wasn’t answered, she brought the kittens anyway, the charity said.

“Dawn tried to explain that we had no space available and if she could give her a few minutes to finish feeding she would speak to her, but instead, she opened the box, tipping the three kittens out onto the floor and walked off.”

A trap, neuter and return programme is also in place, to neuter feral cats that are causing a nuisance in the Paphos area. These cats are collected and trapped by a member of the charity’s team, neutered, vaccinated, treated for fleas, ticks and worms and then released.

Every day volunteers feed the cats 15kg of chicken mince, 36 tins of cat food, 30kg of biscuits and three rotisserie chickens.

Tala Cats has rehomed over 800 cats since they started, mostly in Cyprus, but also to the UK, Germany, Holland and the USA.

“We need your help. Please help us survive,” they said.



https://www.facebook.com/talamonasterycats/, www.talacats.com

https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/07/30/over ... ssues-sos/

[Chaddy]

I know of a few elderly ex pats who feed feral cats on a daily basis...So there will be more and more of them.Do they understand that they are creating the problem.

[trevnhil]

Obviously if anyone is feeding a stray cat, or cats it wold be best if they could borrow a cat trap and get the cat to the vets to be Neutered or Spayed .... We have one that has come every morning for around 3 years to have breakfast, and we had her 'done' at Peyia vets..

[mike strand2]

I agree with Trev. During the lockdown I had 4 recently born kittens in my garden. Last year it was the same, (same mother who I've since taken to be spayed as part of the government scheme), & I took them to the Tala sanctuary. This year I decided I would feed then get them neutered when old enough. They have become quite domesticated and allow me to handle them. They are beautiful, though unfortunately the jet black one must have suffered a misadventure as we now have just three.

So, please if you have a feral cat that hasn't been neutered, Paphiakos will loan you a box trap so you can take the cat to them for neutering, injections etc at no charge, albeit donations are always welcome.

3 cats collage.png (188.39 KiB) Viewed 4335 times

[Bindi]

This may not be a popular suggestion but if the fit, healthy, neutered cats were released it would free up space and may help with the rat problem. Just a thought.

[DavidatLWH]

I know of a few elderly ex pats who feed feral cats on a daily basis...So there will be more and more of them.Do they understand that they are creating the problem.

Not really true, Chaddy. Ex-pats are not creating the problem in the first place.

One of the reasons there are so many stray cats and dogs is the reluctance on the part of Cypriots (in general) to have their pets spayed. Then the animals are later discarded in areas where ex-pats live and so the cycle goes on.

[Chaddy]

Good post Bindi,the kind hearted folks ( though well meaning ) feeding the feral cats are creating the over populated situation.Cats are preditors by nature.Why should they hunt their prey,rats snakes etc when they don't have to when us kindly folk are making it easy for them .....Rocket science???????

[galexinda]

Good post Bindi,the kind hearted folks ( though well meaning ) feeding the feral cats are creating the over populated situation.Cats are preditors by nature.Why should they hunt their prey,rats snakes etc when they don't have to when us kindly folk are making it easy for them .....Rocket science???????

Problem is the cats have become used to regular feeding etc so would have to learn how to hunt in order to survive. The feral cats in my area manage very well but have not been exposed to regular human contact.

[Jimgward]

At my place, we worked with Parc - Rescue something - to catch a load of cats and get them neutered, Was worthwhile, Only 1 make eluded us. Too wily.

[Jim B]

I agree with Chaddy.
Where I live is out of the way and didnt have a problem with stray cats until our new neighbour (theres only 2 properties) started feeding a stray. Now there's loads of them that come down from the village for feeding and a lot of them have moved into our garden leaving their mess everywhere. We have a covered terrace with cushioned furniture which we now have to put away at night because they sleep on them leaving fleas and the like. I have young grandchildren who've come in with cats mess on their feet and hands after going out in the garden.
This wouldn't of happened if my neighbour hadn't started feeding these strays. My neighbour has caught them and had them neutered which makes it worse as they then tend to stay close to his place which just happens to be our garden.
Feeding them may not affect you but can affect other people

[galexinda]

I have noticed that many charity shops are struggling to find enough volunteers and subsequently have had to reduce the days and times they are open.

[Chaddy]

Jim B and anyone else who has this problem ( which we all did not ask for ) what we have done,and its solved it for us is get a spray bottle fill it half with cheap disinfectant and the rest with water.Spray it frequently over the problem area,s and bingo the offending moggies have vanished.....good luck.

[Kili01]

If unwanted cats are messing in your flower beds or planters just buy some hot chili powder
and sprinkle it on any affected areas of soil. It certainly works! Just one sniff is enough, cats turn away in disgust. After a few days we found they go elsewhere!

Dee

[Jim B]

Thank you for the helpful hints, will give them a try..

Jim

[Lincoln]

Stop feeding feral cats. That is the answer. They breed and spread all the fleas. A feral cat will hunt if hungry. They catch and eat VERMIN so that is excellent news.

[Kili01]

I know this will cause heart ache to some cat lovers, But there are simply far too many cats whether feral or in cat rescue centres. Surely, some should be selected for humane euthanasia. Instead of feeding and confining more and more felines, reducing the numbers should be a sensible option.

Dee

[mike strand2]

I think I know who I'll recommend for euthanasia

[WHL]

Well meaning people who go out and feed these cats, are a big part of the problem, you are just increasing no.s, let them fend for themselves, if not a humane cull should be introduced.
https://www.livescience.com/65356-austr ... %20Science.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/maga ... lling.html

[Jim B]

I lived on Camps all over the Middle East and they all had a colony of cats but we didnt feed them. They kept the vermin down and the size of of the colony never got too big. Those who feed the Ferrell cats only add to the problem; the situation is becoming unsustainable as we are seeing now up at the Tala Monestry. Unfortunately sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind and cat lovers are doing these Ferrell cats no favours..

Jim

[josef k]

I have to agree with the above. Cat numbers will self-regulate if left to their own devices. Feeding them causes the problem.

I know many people on here are cat lovers and want to help cats as much as they can, but they aren't helping cats at all. Many of these people work at, or support Tala Cats. I know they are all well meaning and caring people, but I have to question the purpose of this organisation. Their mission statement, as shown on their facebook page, explains they exist to care for and feed the cats who would otherwise go hungry. This simply isn't true. they would find their own food. It's what cats do. I would understand if the organisation dealt solely with injured or ill cats, but most of the cats there seem to be healthy.
I'm not knocking anyone here. I just think people are misguided. I'm sure the fact that cats are cuddly and fluffy has a lot to do with it. I don't see a Tala Spider Park being as successful.