Cowichan’s cat spaying program
$10,000.
It’s a hefty chunk of cash that could fall into the pocket of a Cowichan charity if it can get enough people to vote for it.
Cowichan Cat Rescue is competing in Pepsi Foundation’s Refresh Everything project.
The furry feline spay and neutering group’s currently in sixth place out of hundreds of Canadian do-gooder groups.
They need to find a spot in the top three bracket to win the dough, said the group’s Jean Hamilton.
“If enough people will vote, we could put in a program that would cover people (and their cats) from Malahat through to Chemainus,” Hamilton said. “It would be huge for the community.”
If the Cowichan group gets ahold of the $10K, it plans to use it to stage more of what’s now only an annual event for their group.
Spay Day sees Cowichan vets and clinic staffers donating their time and spaces and instruments to fixing felines.
“If we got the Pepsi money, we’d be able to pay them the same rate we pay for our feral cats and we could take applications with people on welfare, disability, all the subsidized incomes, and charge them a $15 user fee and spay and neuter their cats,” Hamilton said, thus reducing Cowichan’s feral cat colonies.
Hamilton says too many undomesticated cats prowl local streets and alleyways, mostly migrating around low-income apartment buildings.
She’s been putting the word out for some time to local veterinarians about creating a more active program.
“To get a program up and running and that would be self-sustaining would cost about between $10 and 15 K,” she said.
Part of Cowichan’s problem, according to Hamilton, is the local SPCA branch doesn’t have enough funds to run its own subsidized cost spay/neuter program leaving the Cowichan area short-handed of any active programs.
“There are hundreds of cats to do in the valley,” she said.
The group recently ran a Spay Day at the Duncan Animal Hospital on, April 3.
Dr. Gillian Wiley and Dr. Keith Grey fixed 30 cats.
“The entire clinic staff and several volunteers arrived bright and early on Sunday morning prepared to put in a very full day performing spays and neuters, plus vaccinating and tattooing the cats,” a Cowichan Cat Rescue press release stated.
To vote for Cowichan Cat Rescue, go to www.refresheverything.ca.
Participants register with their email address and can sign in to vote on a daily basis, explained Hamilton.
There are 20 days left for voting and 254 ideas running in the competition.
Finalists will be announced May 1.
Pepsi has $200,000 in total up for grabs.
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