Davina’s Greek trip becomes cat rescue
ACAT lover from Rochdale is helping poorly and abandoned cats on the tiny Greek island of Zakynthos.
Davina Hanes, assistant manager at Oldham Cats, recently went on holiday to the island where she met a poorly and heavily pregnant cat called Athena.
She had made contact with Marilyn Williams, who runs cat rescue charity Cats of Zakynthos and is looking after over 100 cats that were suffering in the wild.
Marilyn said that if she could catch Athena she could bring her to the charity.
Davina, who looks after 17 rescue cats at her home in Rochdale, said: “It was a bit of a ridiculous situation – while everyone else was sunbathing around the pool I was feeding this cat throughout the day, but I love cats and I am never off duty.
“I was going around the hotel with a cat carrier and a trap, but sadly I wasn’t able to catch her. I got her three quarters of the way into the trap, but she was wise to what was going on.”
Since her return Davina has kept in touch with Marilyn, who has made regular journeys to the hotel to check on Athena, and has confirmed that she has not had her babies.
During her holiday Davina was putting regular updates on the Oldham Cats Facebook page and one of their members suggested they put on a Greek-themed fundraising event for the Cats of Zakynthos.
The event will take place at Milan Bar in Oldham on Friday, October 13 and there will be live music, food, drink, and a raffle.
Tickets cost £15 and are available in advance from facebook.com/groups/ oldhamcats or from the Oldham Cats rescue centre on Saxon Street, Middleton.
The charity is hoping the event will raise around £1,000.
Davina, who works for Oldham Cats in a voluntary capacity, has also written two books – The Life of Little Jack and The Return of Little Jack – about a blind kitten called Jack that was brought to Oldham Cats after being found on the streets of Manchester.
Both books are available to buy on Amazon and all proceeds go to the charity.
She said: “They tell the story of how Jack came to the rescue centre needing emergency surgery, his ups and downs and what has happened since.
“We made about £5,000 from the sales of the first book last year, which was brilliant.”
For more information visit oldhamcats.co.uk.