About us - Our origin story I moved to Curacao in the fall of 2014. I needed a couple of months to settle down and find a place where I wanted to live. I took my two cats, Max and Tigger, both 11 years old, with me.
Fairly new to the island, I needed to find a vet, where I could take my animals to in case they needed medical attention. So I asked around, but didn’t decide on a vet then and there. A few months later, I found an emaciated kitten on my doorstep and took her in. It was 4.00 am, so I fed her and she settled in my living room chair for a nap, the same morning I took her to a vet. It was there, that I heard about the huge dog and cat problems on the island and got interested in trying to help. I had been a volunteer for the RSPCA for years in Holland, so I thought it would be nice, to take that up in my new homeland. So I asked for more information and contacted some people who were already doing rescue work for cats and dogs and that’s how it all started. |
Around the same time, I also became a volunteer on a sustainable living project, a “kunuku” as it is called over here. Meaning government owned Farmland. There were a few cats, that didn’t look good. They seemed to belong to nobody, they just were around. So I started feeding the cats that were there… and numbers increased by the day. Everyday, more cats showed up for “ breakfast”… and I saw that it could turn into a huge problem, if they all hadn’t been helped. So I took it upon myself, to trap them, get them spayed and neutered. In total the group consisted of about (what I thought) 35 cats. Later on I learned, that a neighbor just 2 houses up, used to feed these cats. So I went over there, to find even more cats, there were at least 20 more! The couple, in their early 70’s, couldn’t handle the problem by themselves, there were just too many cats! This is the group I still feed every morning and give medical attention to, if needed.
As I got more involved, more reports of large groups of cats reached me. People started calling me for help and I started helping on a more regular basis. We have a foundation on the island, called “Stichting Dierenhulp”. They spay and neuter 120 animals a month for free, for people that can’t afford paying for it. But with so many feral animals, it’s just not nearly enough. The waiting list is long (approx 3 months) and the foundation tries to do their best, but relies on donations as well. So a lot of the work we do, we pay for from our own income.
Today, there are more than 200 applications for help, and only a handful of people like me, that have cat traps and kennels, to trap these animals. We can’t keep up with applications if we have to continue like this. We just don’t have enough cat traps (that we could bring to people’s homes so they could set the traps themselves) and we don’t have the financial backup to pay for all these sterilizations. In Curacao it is kitten season all year round, so every week, we get new reports of new litters being born. People see female cats reproduce and call us, so it’s evident that we NEED to respond to those calls first, to prevent more litters from being born. That means, they take up the spot from other cats, that are on the waiting list, but we have to set priorities!
The problem is getting out of hand and we desperately need help in getting the population under control.
Today, there are more than 200 applications for help, and only a handful of people like me, that have cat traps and kennels, to trap these animals. We can’t keep up with applications if we have to continue like this. We just don’t have enough cat traps (that we could bring to people’s homes so they could set the traps themselves) and we don’t have the financial backup to pay for all these sterilizations. In Curacao it is kitten season all year round, so every week, we get new reports of new litters being born. People see female cats reproduce and call us, so it’s evident that we NEED to respond to those calls first, to prevent more litters from being born. That means, they take up the spot from other cats, that are on the waiting list, but we have to set priorities!
The problem is getting out of hand and we desperately need help in getting the population under control.
Currently we are setting up information campaigns to inform the public about animal welfare and how to properly care for animals in need. We do our best to reach as many people as we can, by media and by going door to door to educate people and offering our help. We are pushing the Government, to pass a law about animal welfare so we have legal tools to go after people that don’t treat their animals the right way. We need the Government to get involved in a sanctuary for the animals found on the street.
WE NEED HELP! … We need more cat traps, we need vets to come out to the island and support our local vets in surgery, we need materials/surgical equipment. But most of all, we need caring, animal loving people to support our cause and help pay for sterilizations and treatments. We need people who are willing to adopt an animal long distance, and support the caretaker in the monthly costs of caring for that animal. Since for the most part, the locals are very poor, they can’t pay for the work we do. So I’m looking for help outside of Curacao, to solve the problem. I need to, because if I don’t help these animals, who will?
If you can help or have any ideas about how to raise funds and awareness to help the cats of Curacao, please email Mariette: info@catsofcuracao.com
Article first posted on January 3, 2017 by catmanchris
https://coleandmarmalade.com/
Thank you for reading!
https://coleandmarmalade.com/
Thank you for reading!