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This February, WAW offered local people the opportunity to get their cat neutered and chipped for only £10 as part of a special community neutering campaign.
Part of the World Spay Day campaign taking place on 27 February, which aims to show the importance of neutering pets, we assisted cat owners on benefits or low income in Warrington, Widnes,and Runcorn.
The event, held across three days at the WAW on-site neutering clinic saw a remarkable 79 cats spayed or castrated, micro-chipped, health-checked and returned to their owners in a bid to help reduce the amount of unwanted and abandoned cats and kittens in the area and promote responsible pet ownership.
Now in its fourth year, the event was made possible by a team of 14 amazing volunteer Vets and Vet Nurses that work in partnership with the charity and dedicated volunteers who supported by collecting and dropping off cats, cleaning, and administration.
Veterinary Nurse, Claire Shepherd who helped set up the clinic and organised the volunteers, said:
“There was a desire from vets and vet nurses to volunteer to help animals in need in the UK, and the WAW clinic is a great facility to allow us to do this. We have such a remarkable network of vets and vet nurses all willing to give up their time to help animals locally.
“They are committed to caring for animals well beyond their daily job and supporting rescues, which are overwhelmed now, due to the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and excessive breeding.”
One unneutered female cat can produce around 18 kittens a year and can end up with potentially 20,000 descendants in just five years! The WAW event, has intentionally taken place before the weather started to get warm hopes to reduce the annual spike in the numbers of unwanted and abandoned kittens, known as ‘Kitten Season,’ which lasts from Spring to late autumn.
Julie Pickett, WAW Trustee commented:
“Rescues across the UK are at crisis the impact of cost-of-living is seeing the increase of abandoned and surrendered pets. Adding to this is the continuous influx of kittens, resulting from people not neutering their pets.
“Put quite simply there are not enough good homes for cats! WAW is just one small, local charity and we rehomed 373 cats in 2023, with a further 35 rehomed since the start of 2024, we also have a significant number waiting for rescue space. We hope that our commitment to providing low-cost neutering will help reduce the annual spike in the numbers of unwanted and abandoned kittens.
“The support from the volunteer vets and vet nurses is immeasurable and we would like to thank each and everyone of them, who along with our volunteers and staff make events like these possible.”
Claire added,
“A lot of people don’t realise that cats can get pregnant from four months, plus there are the benefits of neutering as neutered cats tend to live longer and happier lives, they are less likely to roam and go missing and male cats are less likely to spray and fight.
“There is no real excuse for people not to be a responsible pet owner and neuter their cats, there is so much help available. There are schemes like this available from both small local charities across the country as well as larger national charities, such as Cats Protection. Schemes that offer free or very low-cost neutering and projects that break down the barriers people use for not neutering their cats, like affordability or access to transport.”
WAW receives no government funding and relies entirely on donations from the public and if you would like to support our work, to allow us to continue to serve the community and reduce the problem of unwanted and abandoned pets you can make a safe secure donation at www.justgiving.com/warringtonanimalwelfare
You can find out more about WAW low-cost neutering options here, and other ways to support to donate here.