Community champions who go the extra mile
SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY:
HUDDERSFIELD Feral and Strays Cat Rescue have saved more than 1,500 cats in just three years.
It all started when four cat lovers – Jamie DeGiorgio, Sally Fletcher, Dannielle Boyes and Emma Hanson – met through a post on Facebook to help trap, neuter and rehome a colony of stray and feral cats in the Springwood area – but it soon became clear the problem was far larger across Huddersfield.
The charity is now dedicated to helping all stray and unwanted cats and kittens in the area while promoting responsible ownership, especially the importance of vaccinating, neutering and microchipping cats.
Co-founder Sally Fletcher said: “We have dedicated our lives to save as many cats as we can. We deal with very difficult situations which can be extremely emotional and distressing while juggling work, families and other responsibilities.
“Every day we are contacted by members of the public, businesses, vets and local authorities to help stray, injured, unwanted, abused or feral cats. We catch, neuter, vaccinate, microchip, and cover any vet treatments needed which is why we need to fundraise and seek donations all the time.
“Some people need to give their animals a better home due to circumstances, some are lost or abandoned, some condemned to die because their owners cannot afford basic or emergency vet bills. We work alongside councils, social services, domestic violence services and other community organisations. In each case a solution is found to bring the cat into foster care, health checked and provide any treatment they need, in some cases months of surgery due to severe injuries.”
The group now has a team of dedicated fosterers who help with the group’s rehoming programme and volunteers who help with fundraising and awareness.
The group also runs Huddersfield lost and found pets social media sites which involves travelling to scan animals for microchips and contact owners to reunite them.
Feral cats are trapped, neutered and placed in farms or stables where they become working cats to keep rodents from eating or contaminating grain, crops and animal feed.
Huddersfield Feral and Strays – now charity partners for Pets at Home – launched a fundraising campaign in 2019 to buy Recovery Oxygen Mask Kits for the emergency services to save pets which have been overcome by smoke in fires or are in distress after being injured.
They are now on board some fire engines in West Yorkshire and have already been used to save two cats after a house fire.
No cat is ever turned away by the charity and their vet bills last year were a staggering £130,000.