I bet people are a bit cross with me for sparking this conversation off again. I get very passionate about this subject, so sorry if I seemed rude last time I came onto the forum. Specially sorry to Smudgley, who seems like a really nice person and fellow worker.
But it is tough out there for rescue. My outgoing expenses this month just gone were £10.000. The month before £8000. Its a lot of presure to find the money. And all on my shoulders, which is why its a raw subject to me.
I know a lady who has just started a rescue. She is letting people have her cats and kittens for free. She pays all the expenses from her personal pension. The point I made to her is people do not tend to value freebies.
I guess it all boils down to who pays? With public support us rescue workers can continue to try and make a difference in the cat world. Its a drop in the ocean, when you consider the amount of abandoned cats, but we are trying. Without funds we cannot continue.
The other side of the coin is, we could not bother vaccinating, microchipping, neutering etc and let people have the cats free. I do know a charity that does this. They just ask a small donation and are happy with £5. But they have homed some very unhealthy cats.
The pet shop near me is charging £500. for a coloured kitten. There does not seem to be complaints about the price. We are struggling to home even one of our 150 kittens we have in at the moment.
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