‘Saviours’ help stray cats get a better life
dubai — Noticing the increased population of stray cats, some residents took it upon themselves to help provide better life for animals in their neighbourhoods.
Ukranian Nataliya Kartavenko has helped spay and neuter over 2,000 cats during the past four years. With the help of other volunteers, she has been arranging Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) programmes to sterilise strays and releasing them into cat-friendly communities.
“I see a lot of kittens dying of starvation and disease. We have a big population of cats in Dubai because a female could end up giving birth to five kittens up to four times a year. There are no enough homes to adopt such cats that end up dying on the streets,” said Kartavenko, a UAE resident for the last 15 years.
Since 2014, she’s been collaborating with veterinary clinics that offer discounts for strays and rescues.
“I began feeding cats around my building and arranging for them to be neutered. Then I found two tiny kittens and managed to locate a few organisations that might help them, and that’s how I met volunteers from Bin Kitty Collective (BKC) and my journey started.”
Back in July, Kartavenko and other volunteers helped the Dubai Municipality in rescuing stray cats in the old fish market that were in tough medical condition.
If the cat is friendly, Kartavenko arranges a foster home. She also works on sending some cats abroad through BKC’s page in Germany.
Kartavenko said she finds the reward when she sees healthy neutered cats in a colony where she does TNR campaigns and when she sees no sick kittens around. She stressed on the importance of working as a community and educating people about TNR programmes. “People are afraid of infections, but it isn’t that easy to get infected from a cat.”
It’s community responsibility
Indian resident Hira Andrade has been organising TNR programmes ever since she adopted her own cat from Jebel Ali Industrial area in 2015. So far, she helped in sterilising about 100 strays in her community in Al Qusais, while helping others find homes in Germany and Netherlands.
“Ideally, we wish every cat finds a home but the population is too large. If you can’t find a home, then neuter males so they become calm, tame and healthy. Spay females to control the population,” said Andrade, a UAE resident for the past 10 years.
She said after adopting her cat, she noticed many suffering kittens that were in need for help.
She added that it’s the community’s responsibility to save stray animals, not only the government’s. “If every community came together to sterilise an animal, it won’t cost a thing and we will not see suffering animals on the streets,” noted Andrade.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com