The Fluffy Bunch (Formerly: “Hell Colony”) August Fundraiser

This is a fundraiser for a very difficult colony in Agios Athanasios, Limassol. The name of this place was Hell Colony for a decade now, until this year. The cats deserve a better name, but those dropped off here are often doomed. Whether by the hand of man or by disease that arrived with an sick, abandoned animal...

This work is overwhelming and it often seems there is no end in sight for abandonings at this colony. The 2-3 people who help here cannot afford to take care of all the cats plus 30 new ones every month without help... This is nearly half the number that Tala Cats receives without any of the structure or support - just to illustrate the picture.

July was a very difficult month, someone dropped a sick kitten and we lost many kittens from panleukopenia (pavro), and even though some of them were rushed to the vet, they died there few days later. It was horrible. We are spraying disinfectant once a week and the virus is finally eliminated, all new kittens are healthy. Bad news- we have 15 new arrivals in august already, 3 of them already with flu and needing medication.

This month we HAVE TO vaccinate the cats. So the main fundraising is for this. Otherwise the cats get sick again and again. We have already vaccinated 2 of them but we have at least 40-45 more that need to get at least one dose of vaccine. Another round of panleucopenia is not an option. It was horrific to lose so many kittens in a matter of days to a preventable disease! The lowest price vets do for vaccines, because supplies are low in CY is 20 euro, so on average we need 800 euro for vaccines, plus monthly spot ons, medical care and of course food.

We need your help so we can come daily to feed and care for these souls. This place is not a 2-3 volunteer colony and the volunteers have to have support because people are using this as a public shelter - which is obviously is not! Please do not drop off cats at random colonies, you are endangering not only that cat or kitten, but also the entire colony to new diseases they may not be immune to. Please neuter your pets and the cats you feed, it is much more affordable than ealing with the fallout of an uncontrolled population.

From Demetra:

Hi all, as most of you already know we are struggling to take care of this much suffered colony at a cemetery in Limassol, who people treat like it is a cat sanctuary. Every time i drive there my heart shakes in what i will find. They abandon their cats daily either because they are sick, or because they are pregnant, or the kittens that their cat gave birth to and decided that they don't want to feed or take care of them. We are only 2-3 people trying to manage this colony and it is very difficult because other than abandonings, people throw there their left overs and bad quality food for the cats which i can not control. Thats why we try to spend on quality food for them because they get sick so easy there, as the new cats transmit diseases. I can't afford doing this on my own, even though i have cut a lot of personal expenses for them, it is impossible to take care of 50+ cats on a monthly salary. I can not abandon them though so i need help doing this. Please, if you can spare anything for these furry babies, please donate or even share! Be well x

-Demetra

Your support makes a difference!

Your help will cover food and medical care for these cats.

Vaccines, Spot-ons (the fleas and ticks pass diseases), deworming pastes, medicines, medical care for cats with the flu. We need 500 in reserve for emergency veterinary care - last month our total fundraised was 970 - this covered food, spraying liquids,and vet treatments for flu. The treatment for panleukopenia, and for new sick kittens abandoned in July was covered by the volunteers own pocket. Also 3 very young kittens were abandoned, that needed special wet food for the foster homes was also bought by voluntters own money.Nutrition is important - without proper food the cats cannot fight diseases that are brought here again and again, but medical care for the currently sick ones is also important as they pass it to the rest of the colony!

While you make this a little bit easier, we work towards cleaning out this colony and working with the powers that be to change this situation (more about this below).

We can also accept food, medicines, spot-ons, deflea liquids (sebacyl), disinfectant tabs (virkon).

Thank you all for any amount donated.

We are also looking for more help - 10 to 20 people. If you are in Agios Athanasios area, or would be willing to come feed or be involved, please get in touch here: https://www.facebook.com/demetra.demetriou or 99228874 or http://www.facebook.com/mashayakovenko.

What are we doing to improve the situation?

WE are no longer sure what to do aside from supporting any and all efforts to build an affordable Spay and Neuter clinic...

We had a personal meeting with the mayor of Agios Athanasios, and when asked for CCTV system, he said this is not a possibility because cemetery entrance is a public space, and it is forbidden to install cameras because GDPR regulations. When also asked for funding at least a part of vet care for the sick ones, he also declined because they do not have funds for this and that they are struggling even to fix roads. So, the issue is bigger than municipality, or even Limassol. It starts with the non-availability of funds to municipalities for animal welfare and the general law for this in Cyprus. This is another battle us volunteers need to fight in Cyprus. His additional suggestion was to write to the municipality of Limassol and ask for the creation of a cat shelter in addition to a new dog shelter being created now in Limassol. All in all, the only action the mayor promised to take, is to add a sign that abandonings of animals is illegal, to offer us some wooden houses for the winter to protect them from rain and cold and spray twice a year for fleas. That is all, sadly.

We will be working towards mass spay and neuter campaign in the area which is essentially the only solution to endless drop offs. It is our hope that more affordable and high volume spay and neuter soon becomes reality in this area. We will be doing what we can to help that project become reality.

Notes on what is currently needed:

• Spot-ons are monthly minimum 60 euros. We can only get this price when we order in bulk (need fundraiser)
• Medication - flu, eyes, antibiotics, vaccinations when they are available (need fundraiser)
• Dry Food - we should order regular food (right now we are running out of very high quality food, we should get good food but one that is not so pricey that we can mix together with this one)
• Wet Food - we have to decide, organise and order (need fundraiser)
• Detox Diet - Urinary food mixed with quality regular food (need fundraiser)
• Kittens Fosters - either we have to raise money for paid fosters or it is impossible (need fundraiser)
• Organize Group - we must find more people, we need 30 people for sure... to help feed, financially, foster, attend when we organize a cleaning or spot on... please invite people into the The Fluffy Bunch Cat Colony group. This place is not a beach or park colony with tourists coming buy with food in their pocket... noone spontaneously walks by here to give them treats or attention... so we need to find a really really big group who go here on purpose. The more of us there are in this area, united, the easier it is for each person and the better chances we have to improve the situation - these cats deserve help!
• TNR - we have 6-10 neuters available to us for 25 euros each - one has been paid. People here have already covered between 4 and 15 cats each...
• Fundraiser
• Videos - the sheer number of cats and kittens there, we need to fundraise and show what is going on here, including the sick which we cannot help without funds.

This fundraiser provides a place for people to support the cats. If you would like to help these cats right now, support can go here so it is very clear what we have.

July accounts: From all our funds raised in July, we have spent 450 for necessary foods, 200 for disinfectant and pump for spraying, 70 for spaying (2 female cats), 150 on vet bills (Just from fundraiser, volunteers and especially Demetra are covering much more than this prom their private funds) and have now 125 that we need to use for vaccines.

We are actively looking for more volunteers and more support.