CAN
YOU HELP?? Getting homes for cats has been very hard lately,
which is really sad as we have lots of beautiful cats and kittens
just longing for lovely homes to go to. At the moment we have over 80
kittens in our care as well as over 30 adult cats. We can only take in
other
unwanted and stray cats when we have found homes for the ones we are
currently looking after. Do have a look at our
“We Need a Home” page, which
has details of some of the cats who are looking for homes. If you are
thinking of adopting a cat or kitten, please do give us a call on 01268
285778 and give a loving home to one (or more) of these fantastic
felines.
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CAT OF THE WEEK
ALFIE
Alfie came to us from a multi-cat household
He is a very energetic, lively and loving little kitten, aged about 4 months, who loves to play. He has been neutered.
Alfie
likes the company of other friendly cats where he can have a rough and
tumble so would love a home that already has another cat or a home
where he would receive lots of
attention. He could adapt to life with a nice dog, but not very young
children.
Can you give him the home he needs?
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FREE NEUTERING CAMPAIGN – For a
FURTHER LIMITED period we are able to offer free cat neutering for both
male and female cats. To qualify you need to be on a means-tested
benefit, JSA, pension or low income and live in post code areas SS11 to
SS17, CM11 to CM15 and your cat must be 5 months or older. Other
conditions apply. To find out more, please ring
our Neutering Line on 01268 543283. DON’T MISS OUT, RING US TODAY!
 About
the Basildon, Brentwood & District Branch
The Basildon,
Brentwood & District Branch of Cats Protection was started in 1988,
when it was known as the Laindon Branch,
because most of the original members lived in the Laindon
area of Essex. We later changed our name to the Basildon
& District Branch. From 2003, we also officially covered the Brentwood council
area, so we changed our name again to reflect the area we now cover
(Postcodes SS11 to SS17, CM11 to CM15). From a small beginning with just
12 original members, we now have around 300 members. In common with most
Cats Protection branches, the work of the branch is carried out by a
smaller group of active members who foster the cats, fund-raise, do
follow up visits etc. Our branch covers a large area which encompasses
the whole of the Basildon & District Council area, which includes Wickford and Billericay, plus nearby Stanford-Le-Hope
and Corringham, and the Brentwood Council area
which includes, Hutton, Shenfield and Brentwood.
 In 2009, we helped over 1100+ needy cats,
including finding homes for 500 cats and kittens. The rest were helped
with free or assisted neutering and other veterinary treatment where the
need arose. Our costs for fostering alone were over £27,000 last year and
on top of that our veterinary costs were more than £38,500. Apart from a
small annual grant received from Cats Protection Headquarters, we have to
raise the rest of our funds locally. With fundraising, telephone and a
very small amount of admin costs we need to raise
over £70,000 each year to allow us to continue our rescue service at its
current level. Ideally we would like to see our branch grow to help even
more local cats, volunteers and funds permitting. Since our branch
started, we have found new homes for nearly 8000 cats. We sometimes
wonder what would have happened to them if we had not been here to help
them, which is why we suggest a donation within the region of £60 when
adopting a cat as this allows us to continue helping more cats, the central
aim of the charity.
Branch Homing Figures for the
last 5 Years
In common with most animal rescues,
adoption figures are down because adoption enquiries are declining, which
means that we have fewer spaces to take cats in , whereas requests for
cats to be taken in by the branch are ever increasing
|
Year
|
2005
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2006
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2007
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2008
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2009
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Cats Homed
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238
|
249
|
233
|
218
|
223
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|
Kittens Homed
|
346
|
337
|
315
|
297
|
277
|
|
Total
|
584
|
586
|
548
|
515
|
500
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 We do not have a central shelter like some Cats
Protection branches. Instead the cats which we take in are cared for by
some of our members (we call them our fosterers) in their own homes. Some
of our fosterers have specially built cat pens in their gardens. The pens
have heating in the winter and provide a snug and warm temporary home for
our rescued cats. Here is a picture of one of our pen blocks:
At any time we usually have over 40 cats in our
foster homes which may seem quite a lot, but on a bad week, our Homing
Officer can be asked to take in over 50 cats, so we always have a waiting
list. We really do need more foster homes. If you live in our area and
have a spare room, telephone and transport and would like to find out
more about fostering, we'd love to hear from you. The Branch supplies all
food, litter and equipment and pays for all vet bills for fostered cats.
You supply the love and cuddles. It is very rewarding to see your  foster
cat go off to it's new home.
Many of the cats and kittens we take in are
strays, but just as many come in from homes, where the owners have had to
give up their cats for a variety of reasons including loss of job,
relationship breakdowns, allergies, finance problems etc. Many of the
strays we take in are pregnant females, who have been heartlessly dumped
when they have become pregnant, when if they had been spayed at the
appropriate time, this could have been avoided. Our branch runs a low
cost neutering scheme to help less well off people to get their cats
(both male and female) neutered, so there really is no excuse.
If you live in our area and could give
a loving home to a rescued cat or kitten, please contact our CATLINE on
01268 285778, or E-mail us at homing@bascats.org.uk
 If you would like to volunteer to help our
branch (Fund-raising, Fostering, Follow-up Visits, transport etc), please
contact our CATLINE on 01268
285778 for a chat about what is
involved, no obligation , of course
OR
E-mail us at recruitment@bascats.org.uk
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