May is coming and with it not only Mother’s Day, but also the season of unwanted kittens. If it weren’t for the so-called cat moms, who are often human moms too, most cat shelters wouldn’t exist and thousands of abandoned cats would be left without help. Municipalities rarely set up cat shelters, despite the fact that there are many times more cats in need than dogs. It is not an easy mission, and there is a lot of human indifference and cat suffering, with shelters bursting at the seams. Photo credit: Tereza Ticháčková
Brno, May 8 (BD) – The Kryšpín Charitable Cat Society was founded during the Covid pandemic, and provides financial support for nine verified private shelters, mostly in South Moravia, raising half a million crowns for them in the first year of its existence.
Most cat shelters are founded and run by women: Alžběta Blašková (Tibet Shelter), Jarmila Zlámalíková (Flíček Cat Depository), Jana Zemková Němcová (Jana Depository – Chance to Have a Home), Jiřina Skoumalová and Jiřina Vrábelová (Jiřina Skoumalová Shelter and Gaia Shelter), Kateřina Kršková (Cats at Katka’s), Lucie Pokorová (LuckyCats), Patricie Vítová (Cat Asylum Znojemsko) and Petra Endlicherová (Abandoned Cat’s Paws).
The shelters care for kittens dumped in the woods, ditches or garbage cans, cats hit by cars, shot by hunters, abused in various ways, malnourished or seriously ill or just simply abandoned and hungry. As some owners are irresponsible and do not neuter their cats, strays are becoming more and more numerous. This is what the founders and operators of cat shelters, the so-called cat moms, face every day.
As of 9 September 2021, the cat moms were caring for a total of 760 cats in nine Kryšpín-supported shelters. They not only care for the cats, but also find them new loving homes. Their shelters are distinguished by their dedication and warmth, as well as the fact that the cats are not confined to boxes but live in cat rooms, usually with aviaries to give them access to the outdoors. However, it is not easy to financially support such a shelter. “If we calculate the average amount of CZK 500 per cat per month (usually double that), these nine shelters with 760 cats cost at least CZK 380,000 per month. That’s why we were founded, to help the shelter operators with raising money so they could have more time to care for the cats that need it,” says Lenka Němcová, founder of the Kryšpín Charity Cat Association.
The number of cats in need of help is constantly increasing and they often arrive at the shelters in a terrible state. The shelters are bursting at the seams, so they are often unable to help, and unfortunately, with some exceptions, companies and municipalities do not get involved in helping cats in need.
The charity cat association is based in Brno. As of 31 December 2021, the total population of the South Moravian Region was 1,184,345. The official capacity of registered South Moravian shelters on that date was 1,342 cats. Most of the places are offered by private shelters, and most of them are supported by Kryšpín.
