Catalyst Update!

I just had to share this with the cat-lovers among you.
Remember the camp cats that the good folk in Dubai were raising money for?
Well, here is some good news that Catherine sent to us this morning:

'You will be pleased to know that as of the 20th December we have managed to trap 41 cats at the camp. Of those cats, 22 females and 13 males have been sterilised and released. Sadly 5 male cats had to be put to sleep due to severe illness, but happily 1 very tame cat has been sterilised and homed.'
'Without people like you this project would have been a lot more difficult.'

Although I am sad for the five cats that didn't make it, at least they are no longer suffering, and that in itself is a blessing.
And just try to work out the number of kittens that will not be born, not die on the roads or starve to death, not be chased by dogs, or harmed by people; it must be hundreds, if not thousands, from these cats alone.

Apart from the camp cats, in the last few weeks, Catherine herself has trapped and 'sorted' another five cats, including two female tabbies, one limping badly from a previously broken leg. The vet said that the leg had healed and there was nothing further to be done.
These hard working and dedicated people have certainly earned a place in whatever Heaven they believe in.
I wish there were more people like them.

Here is a prayer to St Gertrude of Nivelles, the Patron Saint of cats (and those who love them). She was a 7th Century abbess and shares her Feast Day with St Patrick, 17 March.


           St Gertrude, grant a gentle end,
           To cats who suffer at the hands of men,
           Cats blinded, scalded, poisoned, maimed,
           Some, lost pets, seized when unclaimed,
           St Gertrude, hear my prayer this night,
           And grant them surcease from their plight.

(Unknown)

I second that.