The Councillor for Animal Protection, Carmen Morate, announced on Tuesday that aid, to the total of 10,252.50 euros, has been awarded by the Diputación de Alicante to the campaign for the sterilisation treatment of urban colonies of cats without an owner, in the municipality of Torrevieja.
Over the last week, the feeders that deal with the cat colonies, organised by the association CES (Capture and Sterilization Torrevieja), have been working with 8 veterinary clinics on the project. “The castration of street cats is the only ethical solution that also provides long-term results “, explained the councillor.
This is the third consecutive year that the City Council has been involved in this initiative, the objective of which is to avoid the environmental problems that an overpopulation of cats can cause. “But Torrevieja goes further. It is the third consecutive year that we have taken part, but our reasons are much the same as everywhere else. We want to avoid as much suffering as possible by street cats through their overpopulation. Hundreds and hundreds of cats are born every year. They often suffer disease, hunger, thirst and poisoning, something that we are extremely keen to reduce or even avoid, “said Morate.
With the grant, 150 cats can be castrated, which can then be identified by a small cut on the tip of the ear – the females on the right and the males on the left.
At the beginning of the year, with a much smaller grant, the council was able to castrate 59 cats, so that by the end of 2018 more than 200 cats will have been neutered in Torrevieja. Since the scheme was introduced by the council the total number of castrated cats exceeds 1,500
Morate also said that over the last three years more and more municipalities are joining the scheme, now over 90, compared to 66 in 2016, a figure that is considered to be extremely positive. However with the budget declining year on year, 250,000 euros three years ago, decreasing to 200 last year and just 163,000 in the current year, Torrevieja has also suffered a considerable cut with its grant reduced by more than 4,250 euros.
