Mission to save strays
If Angela Purcell wins Lotto, she won’t be spending the money on luxury travel or fast cars. She wants to save homeless animals instead.
‘‘The dream is to win Lotto and to have a lifestyle block and take in rescue animals,’’ she says.
Purcell is on a one-woman mission to save the stray cats of Torbay and has been dedicating her time and money to their plight.
Until she strikes it lucky, Purcell plans to build two outdoor enclosures in her Torbay backyard for homeless cats.
It will cost about $500 to $1000 for each enclosure and she is hoping the public will help pay for them.
One of the enclosures will be for ginger cat Tom who roams the Torbay shops.
Earlier this year Purcell caught Tom with help from Gutter Kitties, but he was too feral to be rehomed.
Purcell also feeds stray cat Lady who lives under the Torbay Medical Centre and is looking after an abandoned cat called Shadow as well as her own two cats, Dexter and Willow.
Purcell says now that she has started helping the cats, she cannot stop.
‘‘Any others that come into my knowledge I’ll do my best to help them.’’
She has also signed up to foster for Gutter Kitties as kitten season approaches.
More people need to be aware of the stray cat problem and desex their pets, Purcell says.
‘‘I know people think it’s so expensive, but it saves a lot of lives.’’