Today is International Cat Rescue day, which aims to help raise awareness for the many stray and abandoned cats that desperately need to be rehomed. Several Sheffield charities are asking for your support amid the cost of living crisis.
In particular this year, cat shelters in Sheffield and in the UK have seen a dramatic increase in animals given in by owners who can no longer look after them, whilst the numbers being adopted has slowed.
Two passionate cat lovers from Sheffield, Jasmine and Lauren started ‘cat-CHING’ registered charity in 2018, with the aim of helping with the overpopulation of cats in Sheffield and the nearby area.
They offer a ‘home’til re-homed’ scheme for people who need to safely re-home their cats which is an alternative to selling cats online.
Volunteer Katie said : ”Our schedule is busy, very busy. Between work, cats and sleep there isn’t much free time, if any. We all work full time jobs around Cat-Ching so that’s our day time occupied.”
”We often recieve messages from people who sadly aren’t able to afford to keep their cats. We understand how hard it can be and are always happy to support people when making this difficult decision.”
RSPCA animal charity found that 78% of 4,000 pet owners are feeling the strain of looking after pets during the cost of living crisis and 19% even said they are very worried about being able to afford to feed their pets.
Due to high demand many new charities have started to emerge within the city, Alison Smith started ‘Your Pet Food Bank’ from her flat in 2021.
“The aim is to support people who are in financial distress – this covers anything from people who are homeless, people fleeing domestic abuse, the elderly and people on low income – but this has massively increased in the cost of living crisis.
“I started in 2021, thinking about my cat Albert and what I’d do if I couldn’t afford to feed him. I’d be distraught losing him.”
Alison now uses her garage to store donations.
She said: “I’d not heard of food banks for animals and thought I would set one up and see if it was needed- I didn’t expect it to be as needed as it actually is.”
Last year the charity provided over 110,000 pet meals to those in need.
Those who want to support the organisation can find a drop off point near them via Facebook, or can inquire if they are in need of food packages for their own pets.
Alison Smith organising donations for pets in need.