‘A lot of the cats around the area are just being dumped’
The process of rescuing 15 cats from the Bring Centre at Lakeland Retail Park is underway, spearheaded by Kitten Cottage and locals who have been looking after the stray felines.
The cats have been living there for around two years. However, with the Spring time kitten season upon us, the Virginia cat rescue was asked to trap and neuter the animals. Last week, five more cats were rescued, bringing the total to 10, all of which have been neutered, wormed, treated for fleas and rehomed.
Last Wednesday Máire Egan, who runs Kitten Cottage Animal Sanctuary, set about capturing the remaining five.
The plan upon arriving to the Bring Centre was to lure the cats into cages with pieces of chicken. Máire put out a message on social media asking the many locals who look after them not to feed them the night before. However, upon arrival a huge plate of leftovers was sitting waiting for the cats.
Despite this, Máire still managed to trap all five. Chaos ensued after the cats realised they had been trapped, however Máire immediately put a blanket across the cage to keep them calm before making their way to the vet.
Tarpey’s SuperValu beside the centre have also been looking out for the cats and kindly agreed to sponsor the neutering costs.
“I got a phonecall before Christmas about them and I was asked if I would help to do something about it. We’ve been trying to trap them for the last while,” Máire explained.
“They’ve all got better homes than the back of here,” she described.
Although she’s not sure how the cats came to live in the Bring Centre, she believes that they were abandoned there.
“A lot of the cats around the area are just being dumped,” she said.
She described how a cat can have kittens when they’re four months old and will come into heat this month.
“There would have been thirty or forty more kittens in there by the end of the season,” explained Máire of the urgency in removing them.
“That’s why we have to do it, if there is a cat in your area it has to be neutered.”
Asked if dumping cats is illegal, Máire responded “I don’t believe it is.”
“There’s loads of laws for dogs and horses and wildlife,” she said, adding that there are “very very little laws” concerning cats.
“It needs to change,” she added.
“You can get a cat anywhere and you can dump it out. People don’t seem to have any responsibility.
“If there’s a cat in your garden it needs to be neutered. If you have fed a cat twice, it’s your cat. If you feed it, neuter it.”
Kitten Cottage and Cavan SPCA run schemes where you can have your cat neutered for “one third” of the price.
“There’s no reason not to have your cat neutered,” she said.