Cat campaign underway
BENITACHELL’S Gatos Felices association, which was recently set up following a council course for cat colony feeders and supervisors, has set to work to coordinate the control of feral cat colonies in various areas of the municipality.
Several volunteers from the association have been working for weeks on a campaign consisting of three clear actions – trapping the cats to neuter them, carrying out a correct feeding procedure to encourage them to be independent, and relocating the existing colonies where necessary to move them to areas where they do not pose a problem for residents.
This campaign is being carried out in various locations such as the Mercat car park and the Calistros area, where posters have also
been put up urging people not to feed the cats. Thanks to this action, a total of 26 males and 25 females, some of which were pregnant, have been captured and neutered so far. This has prevented
the immediate birth of new offspring.
Cat colonies are created because of the incorrect belief that all feral cats need to be fed. Feral cats arise from abandoned or escaped domestic cats that become feral cats after living independently for some time, or are the offspring of other feral cats.
Giving food to these cats encourages the proliferation of group colonies and then they do not know how to provide for themselves.
For this reason, the association appeals to the public not to feed stray cats without knowing the proper methods, and to leave this task to accredited volunteers who attended the council’s official course for feeding feline colonies.
Gatos Felices also encourages all cat lovers to collaborate, either by informing them of possible colonies or by actively joining their association as volunteers.
In both cases, people can send an email to gatosbenit atxell@gmail.com