Benidorm Council will designate €20,000 to implement its routine sterilisation campaign for urban colonies of stray cats. According to the Official Provincial Gazette the campaign will receive a €12,032.08 grant from the Alicante Provincial Council this time.
The campaign, which is being conducted in conjunction with the Official College of Veterinarians of Alicante, commenced briefly prior to the summer. However, it was temporarily suspended during July and August. The campaign is scheduled to resume in September with the objective of concluding it by October 31st. According to Councillor for Health, Ana Pellicer, approximately 250 animals will be treated during this year’s campaign.
Pellicer clarified that “as is customary, we will implement the widely recognised CES approach for this campaign, which is regarded as the most effective and animal-friendly approach to managing the stray cat population.” In particular, “this method involves the capture of the cats, which are subsequently transported to veterinary centres for sterilisation and reintroduction into the same colonies.” In addition to sterilisation, “all cats are dewormed, vaccinated against rabies, and marked for subsequent release.”
The councillor clarified that the Council contracts a specialised company to conduct the entire process of capturing and transporting the animals to the clinics, as well as their subsequent release. She also noted that, as is customary each year, “the eight veterinary clinics in Benidorm actively participate in the campaign, which are absolutely key to the development and success of this sterilisation effort.”
The councillor clarified that fieldwork was conducted to identify extant colonies in the municipality prior to the implementation of this cat population control program. Approximately 42 colonies were counted throughout Benidorm, with an approximate population of 1,200 cats. “We are confident that the population of stray cats that form urban colonies will stabilise in a few years as a result of this sterilisation campaign and other measures,” she concluded.
Author: Derek Appleton
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