Kitties Need Your Help

Dear Friends,



I have become involved in a local feral cat rescue project here in Fontainebleau, championed by Anna Hancock, an INSEAD student from Australia, along with her husband Peter Fridell. They informed me of the cats in need in June and I decided to help them in their endeavors to assist these animals. After taking time to ascertain the best way to help them, we have put together a call for help. Please forward this information to all who you feel would be interested in helping us in our efforts to raise funds for the project outlined below.



As some of you who live in the area might be aware, there is a sizable problem with abandoned domestic animals, most commonly cats, around Fontainebleau, France, where I have been living since January. The problem is more acute with the onset of winter as there is a real possibility of those without shelter freezing. For those of you who were not here in January, you may not be aware that the temperature dropped below minus 16 degrees over winter.



While there are a handful of Fontainebleau locals who do their best to feed the animals they can, there are animals living in pretty awful conditions. In particular, we have been concerned about the welfare of a colony of 12 abandoned cats who live close to INSEAD’s campus. We have been investigating what can be done to help them, and found a fairly complicated set of circumstances.


In short, we would really value your help. We are hoping for donations in any amount for building supplies in order to create shelters for them, cat food and veterinary care longer-term.



To send a donation, please go to: https://www.paypal.com/ and follow the instructions to create a user account if you don't already have one.
You can then use my email address: helynhensley@gmail.com to send your donation. The funds will be used only for cat food, vet care and supplies for shelters.


We are planning to run a small working-bee on October 10th to improve the makeshift shelters the cats already have access to. We would love to install new shelters but there is politics at play: The forest rangers are understandably not keen to have cat shelters built on their land and so we need to keep our efforts pretty camouflaged. In addition to improving the areas under fallen trees etc that the cats can shelter in, we would like to construct portable cat shelters in wood that can be relocated whenever needed. The reasoning is outlined below for those keen to know the full story.



The full story: During Spring we have found a group of 12 cats living in the forest. We found empty bowls, so there was some evidence that someone had been feeding them but we had no idea how often. The cats had no shelter and were thin after a long, hard winter. Anna contacted a helpful staffer in the MBA office who put her in contact with a CEDEP staffer who was heavily involved in cat charity work and knew more about the situation.



The good news: We learned that the cats are mostly neutered (paid for personally by the CEDEP staffer) and fed most days (kitchen scraps rather than cat food because the volunteers have very limited resources) by Fontainebleau locals.



The bad news: The cats are on French Forestry Commission (ONF) land and we are not officially allowed to build them any shelters. The official position of the ONF is that the cats should be put down and should not be in a natural reserve. This sounds pretty logical until you meet the cats and realise what a shame it would be to kill 12 young cats who are de-sexed and fed.



Further, since a handful of additional cats are dumped in the forest each year (3 kittens have been found dumped in the forest this year alone- they were young enough to be re-homed), killing this lot would not solve the problem. There would be new cats there within a year and the problem of giving them humane conditions would not have been solved. The sad fact is that cats who have lived in the forest are not generally suitable to be re-homed and indoors. The nearest cat charity is overwhelmed and has confirmed that it would have to euthanize the cats if it were charged with their care, as it has nowhere to keep them.



With the knowledge that there is an existing roster to feed them, we have concluded that the most important contribution we can make is to provide shelter for the cats. We are also keen to raise some funds to pay for the neutering of any new additions to the colony, any trips to the vet that are needed and a bigger supply of food for them and other cats in the area (there are unfortunately quite a few cats in Fontainebleau needing help too).



Further good news: Although the cats are on ONF land, we have found 4 small shelters made with wood from the forest that the people who feed the cats have made. While they are inadequate (and not water-proof) they are important as they show a willingness by the ONF to leave subtle, camouflaged shelters in place. This is why our first priority is to make the existing shelters better for the cats without making them bigger or more offensive to the ONF.



Further bad news: After a storm last winter, the ONF has plans to come through the area the cats live in and take away fallen wood. This would include their current shelters, even after our renovation. We will therefore most likely have to construct new, better shelters. We hope to build portable shelters that can be taken away if the ONF has a similar clearing program in the future. There is some hope of the ONF agreeing to this.



The best news of all: The CEDEP staffer who has worked so hard to feed and pay for the neutering of cats around INSEAD is a local and can continue to monitor the use of the shelters we build.



Again, to send a donation, please go to: https://www.paypal.com/ and follow the instructions to create a user account if you don't already have one.

You can then use my email address: helynhensley@gmail.com to send your donation. The funds will be used only for cat food, vet care and supplies for shelters.



Even 5 or 10 dollars/euros could make a big difference in the lives of these animals!!!!



Thanks,

Helyn, Anna and Pete