CAT OF THE MONTH!!

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. As from 1 January 2003, we are now officially covering the Brentwood area, so we have now changed our name again to reflect the area we now cover(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, plus we now cover, Hutton, Shenfield and Brentwood.

In 2007, we helped over 1100+ needy cats, including finding homes for over 700+ 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 £20,000 last year and on top of that our vets bill was more than £27,000. 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 £60,000 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 a central aim of the charity.

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 are pictures of 2 of our pens:

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 (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