Shelter fundraising to avert catastrophe

A streetborn cat sits on a slide in El Jardinet dels Gats (Cats' Garden), a cat shelter in the Raval district in Barcelona.

The shelter is overflowing with ageing cats who have lost their owners to the pandemic and it has launched an online campaign to get them adopted.

‘‘The Covid situation has brought us older cats, cats in quite severe physical states, from elderly people who had not taken them to the vet for a long time, so the costs are very high,’’ owner Alex Salvador told Reuters.

The pandemic forced the cancellation of onsite fundraising events and cut the incomes of existing donors, but the online drive had been a success, Salvador said.