You have to listen to the barking of the residents of the SPA of Verson (Calvados) to listen to the bad news. The volunteer of an association comes to the refuge at the gates of Caen, this July 15, after “having carried out a withdrawal of cats on the coast. I collected seven, but there may be more. I’m coming to see if you have room ”. A scenario of mistreatment that disgusts and questions the volunteers. Because in Verson, there are no more places!
“We have never seen that,” slips Stéphanie, the head of host families. For about a month, the reception needs for felines have exploded. “When a cat is taken in, we place it with a foster family for at least two weeks. He then joined the refuge. However, some 90 cats are already boarding in the sixty partner families. “It’s getting stuck”, slips the volunteer, giving us a tour of the structure, which has become “a giant cattery”. Almost 50 felines live here.
A great lack of host families too
In fact, there are tomcats “wherever possible”. In addition to the 14 places usually reserved for cats, there is now the quarantine room, the treatment room, but also the break room for… humans. In the small veterinary infirmary, about twenty kittens frolic when they see Stéphanie. She has a fondness for these furballs and would like people to do the same.
“You need adoptions to free up space. At this point, we cannot accommodate any more cats until there is a departure. They are about 70 waiting. Our desire is to shelter these animals, ”continues the manager of the foster families. The end of health restrictions would have boosted the number of dropouts, even if the causes remain varied: “A move, a separation, a death of the owner, plus of course the pound …” In 2020, already, the figures had exploded with 801 cats collected. This summer, the counter already peaks at 452.
In this worrying context, Wendy, 25, brings a clarification that brings some tears to the volunteers. The young woman comes to adopt Gribouille, an elderly and sick cat, who has become in a few months one of the mascots of the independent refuge. ” I had a crush. With my partner, we are going to give him a nice end of life. »The Verson SPA covers all costs for this particular case. But this peak of animal collection makes him hope for a click in the population.
Wendy, the adopter, sums it up herself: “An animal is not a stuffed animal. You really have to think about it before you realize too late that you can’t keep it. Because the serial abandonments place a heavy burden on the refuge, the heaviest budget for which happens to be veterinary expenses. Adoptions don’t just free up space and improve the lives of residents. They keep the association alive. So Wendy says she talks about animals with her coworkers. Perhaps it will arouse envy. To adopt or become a foster family. In both cases, the needs are urgent for the SPA of Verson and his felines.
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