Disabled, poor Oudini is incontinent...
920 kg
Dry food offered
920 kg
Dry food necessary
Participate in confidence
Animal Webaction visited the site 16 January 2023 and confirms the situation described below.
"We cover more than 18 districts in total in Essaouira and its surroundings, which represents about 700 cats to feed: it's huge! And unfortunately this number is constantly increasing because of abandonments. People throw the cats away in front of the houses of some of the neighbourhood 'godfathers and godmothers' or directly on the feeding sites. Even French residents abandon their animals when they have to go home... A cat that has got used to the comfort and warmth of a house, to a sofa, is put back on the street at the slightest difficulty... It's terrible.
It's very difficult to deal with this rate of abandonment, but it's even more difficult to see the misery and mistreatment that cats suffer on a daily basis. Many are beaten, poisoned... When we feed them, people tell us "we don't want any more cats, do something about it, otherwise we'll poison them". Some keep their word, others empty the water bowls, or fill them with gravel...
In addition to all these difficulties encountered in the field, there are of course financial difficulties. The donations I receive are very low and at the same time, the price of kibble is skyrocketing... Our stock has been exhausted for 2 weeks, we buy in dribs and drabs and we are obliged to reduce the quantities distributed... The street cats will not be able to hold out for long like this, and neither will we! Our hands are tied. Without this campaign, we won't able to feed the strays anymore..."
"I have 260 cats in my care at the shelter at the moment. I'm like a dispensary... I get calls all the time, day, night, any time. I don't have any time off or rest. On average, I do one rescue a day. Some cats are returned to their home area with the TNR (trap-neuter-release) method, but it's a very small number. Most of the cats I take in are disabled or ill anyway and cannot be released back onto the street.
I can't live in my own bubble and turn my back on an animal in need. However, the current lack of means forces me to do so... I am forced to say no to certain animals arriving at the shelter, because I can no longer keep up financially. In one year, the shelter's kibble budget has doubled and the donations I receive barely cover 10% of the needs... So I patch things up, I buy what I can, I change brands, the quality drops... It doesn't suit the cats, they get diarrhoea and get weaker every day... "
"Mimouni is a little cat of about one year old. She was given to me by a local 'godmother' her two eyes were huge and full of pus, the result of an untreated coryza... After a period of treatment and convalescence of 2 months, Mimouni is in much better shape than when we found her, but unfortunately she lost her sight. She can no longer live on the streets and of course can't feed herself. Her survival depends entirely on me and the kibble I can get, or not get..."
"I have fewer and fewer donations overall and I think inflation has a lot to do with it. I have a few "yum yum" donations as I call them, i.e. 20 euros a month to feed a cat, but very few! And only a third of my cats are sponsored, for sterilisations and booster shots. So by definition, these are not frequent donations either...
Due to lack of means, I am behind in sterilisation at the shelter, in the streets, everywhere. For the kibble, I take them on credit and I pay them back later as I can... I take more and more from my savings but at some point, there will be no more... And the suppliers can't wait forever to be reimbursed either!
Unfortunately I also have less and less time to post on social media. I spend my time dealing with emergencies... I'm doing my best but I'm managing everything at once, and alone. I can't do more than I already do in a day! I need your help terribly because only your campaigns work, otherwise no one wants to help me pay for kibble..."
"The creation of the shelter came to me as I witnessed the suffering of animals here in Morocco. I could have lived in my bubble and pretended nothing was wrong... but I couldn't! In France, we are not confronted with it (or not very much) but here, animal distress is everywhere. No sterilization program is set up by the authorities, animals reproduce, diseases abound... And the high number of stray animals (both dogs and cats), creates a difficult cohabitation with the local population.
A TNR law was passed a few months ago, but nothing has been put in place yet. Dogs are still captured and euthanised... Cats are fortunately spared for the moment. Anyway, the fate of these animals depends mainly on the initiatives of private associations, or independent volunteers like myself. We have to manage on our own to try to stop the uncontrolled reproduction of strays. Personally, I have been trying to get things moving in Morocco for ten years. I started in Agadir as a volunteer with another association, where I was already running a sterilisation program on site. Then I ended up setting up my own shelter here in Essaouira, where I continue the sterilisations.
I feel useful in my work with animals, I bring help and comfort to helpless souls, who bring it back to me. But this work is exhausting. I am almost 60 years old, I have a chronic illness, the days are long and exhausting... I have very little time for myself and my family and I always ask myself: what will happen to my cats if I disappear? "
Animal Webaction has a logistical platform in Morocco, which allows us to intervene quickly and deliver kibble.
"I receive help from a foundation based in Switzerland for the sterilisation of stray cats in Essouira, which pays part of the bills. Apart from that, I only have a few private donors who help me monthly with small amounts (Teaming etc) or occasionally for the payment of veterinary bills.
I have contacted other foreign foundations to get donations of medicines, cages or other things, but nothing has worked. And for kibble, it's a real struggle! Sadly, very few people think of donating for kibble... I only have a few "yum yum" donations of 20 euros per month and you can imagine that with 260 cats in the shelter and more than 700 in the streets, this is unfortunately not enough... Your campaigns are the only time I can take a break and make sure my cats have enough to eat over the long term!"
When a campaign fails, Animal Webaction cannot deliver the collected products, the beneficiary receives nothing and the buyers get a refund...
If you know of a foundation or NGO that could help Corinne, please invite them to contact us so that we can put them in touch with each other.
If you represent an animal welfare foundation or NGO, please help the cats who are under Corinne's care, contact us and we will put you in touch!
If you wish to meet Corinne or to send her kibble or a cheque directly, contact her on Facebook (note: direct help is under your own responsibility).
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