Costa Blanca Feral Cat Trust Update - January 2024

I am pleased to be able to give an update as to how our small family run charity, the Costa Blanca Feral Cat Trust, is progressing.

Following the sad passing of my mother, Vera Davis, the original chair and founder of the charity, some twelve years ago, I and my daughter, Emma, decided to continue with the amazing, compassionate and pioneering work my mother started in the 1990’s - as we felt we could not allow the wonderful work already done to come to an end, so I became the chair and remained treasurer of the charity.

When living with my parents in north London, we became increasingly aware of animals that were in need of rescue. So, on a voluntary basis, my mother, father and I started becoming involved in cat rescue. We would help to move on cats that were living on sites due for demolition, most of these being feral (wild) cats and kittens. We obtained a trap and would trap these cats one by one and take them to safe sanctuaries, where they could be spayed/neutered and looked after.

Having become so involved in helping cats and aware of their plight, when my parents went on holiday to Spain and my mother saw so many street cats, including those that were being poisoned, she knew something needed to be done. On her return my mother went about starting her own charity to help the street cats. My mother would arrange for a vet and veterinary nurse to fly out to Spain and also trapper/drivers (always including family members) to trap and sterilise the street cats. The cats would also have an ‘MOT’ health check, pain relief and any other veterinary treatment that was required. This used to be done for a week at a time and almost 200 cats would be helped.

We continue with the ongoing sterilisation programme but in a different way now - by sending money to Spain. We have an English trustee, Sue, who lives In Calpe on the Costa Blanca and oversees work done in the surgery (by a known and recommend vet, José) and loans out traps to people who also help the cats. We send €2,000 at a time - which allows 40 cats to be spayed or neutered.

Our vet scans the female cats, to make sure they are not pregnant prior to sterilising them - as it has always been the charity's policy to try and avoid aborting kittens.

The charity has helped so many street cats over the years and has covered many of the local areas and cats have come in from as far away as Benidorm. Recently we have started helping cats in outlying villages, who have had little or no previous help.

Emma, who has been to Spain many times helping the cats, is secretary of our charity and keeps all of the administrative work up to date.

Most recently we have been fortunate enough to receive grants of £2,000 from The Marchig Animal Trust and £1,500 from the Alice Noakes Memorial Trust.

Through my work as a platform Medium some of the centres that I work at kindly give us donations too. I have just received a cheque for £475 from The Awareness Centre in Wickford and an amazing £2,000 from the London Spiritual Mission in Bayswater. I often top up the grants by adding some of the monies earnt from my work, which includes my latest book, A Bridge to the Light and my earlier book, Wisdom Teachings, which I sell at public demonstrations; both books are available on Amazon. I am in the process of making an audio recording of A Bridge to the Light, sales of which will also go to help the cats, both in this country and Spain. I also have two meditation CDs, which can now be downloaded, and I have some bookmarks - which detail quotes of some sayings taken from Wisdom Teachings.

I remain grateful to Emma, Sue, José, the two charities that help us and the donations we receive from some of the centres that we work at.

We aim to keep this work going as long as we are able to, funds permitting. With the donations that we receive we are able to help the cats who have no voice to ask for themselves.

Pauline Firks - Treasurer & Chair
Costa Blanca Feral Cat Trust (CBFT)

UK Registered Charity Number: 1074492
Spanish Registered Charity Number: 05D(a)