Toachim House Veterinary Surgery

CAT NEUTERING IN LA LINEA 2008

To all our wonderful supporters!

This is yet another thank you letter and an update as our latest charity team have just returned from La Linea in Spain.

The fundraising this year was incredible, with Margaret and Sylvia organising a marathon cake sale which raised over £1000 at the Alexandra Centre, plus many of their famous plant sales. Our pub quiz and painting raffles did not do too badly either. As we had money in the bank from last years endeavours as well it was all systems go.

This year we were very lucky as Andrew Wills, owner of Toachim Vets, kindly supported us by allowing Trudy and Lauren (two of our very experienced nurses) to be part of the trip. The team was headed by my husband, Richard, who was a star and donated a valuable week off to help out.

The Prodean Cat Sanctuary is in La Linea, which is on the border with Gibraltar. It is run by Emily and Richard who are a husband and wife team. They rescue and rehome as many cats as possible, whilst also actively trying to neuter the feral cats in the local area to prevent the population getting even more out of control. Along with many excellent volunteers who helped catch and release the cats, Richard and Emily worked tirelessly to make the trip a success.

This years trip was another huge accomplishment. I cannot explain to you how hard all three members of our team worked- often doing 12 or 14 hours per day in quite confined conditions. The final number of neutered animals was 160 (including three dogs), but even more were treated as mentioned further on. This is an incredible achievement and I’m so proud of all of them.

Here are some of the teams thoughts and experiences from their week away.

Trudy- Head Vet Nurse at Toachim

“Wow, what an experience! I jumped at the chance of doing my bit for the animals in need in Spain…the project was truly inspiring! The aim of the trip was to neuter as many cats as possible but alongside this we treated many sick and injured patients. Had it not been for this project, no one would have been out trapping these poor cats and therefore they may have remained undiscovered and suffering. This made the trip even more rewarding. I was overjoyed to see my pets when I returned and I feel very blessed to have them.”

Lauren- Vet Nurse extraordinaire

“My first words when Sarah was recruiting unsuspecting people to travel to Gibraltar was “Yes- I’d like to go, it sounds fun!”. So I waved goodbye to husband and children, wondering if the house would still be standing when I returned (I’m pleased to say it was!). We arrived at the Prodean Cat Sanctuary and our small wooden hut which was to be our work space for the next seven days- the best thing was the radio, the worst thing- no toilet!!! During the week in addition to all the neuterings, we even had to complete an essential orthopaedic op on a tiny kitten- Andrew would have been proud! We called her Princess. She has since been rehomed and I’m pleased to hear that she is doing well.”

Richard- Veterinary Surgeon and superstar!

“We were met by Richard and Emily at the airport whose dedication to the care and welfare of the cats cared for at the Prodean sanctuary as well as that for the feral colonies within the town of La Linea is inspiring. In fact in the following week we were to meet many volunteers working with the cats whose passion and willingness to give so much of their own time, energy and more, left us in awe…While it was hard work, it was extremely rewarding. Trudy and Lauren were fabulous nurses and knew just when to laugh at my bad jokes, their tomfoolery kept my energy levels up and at the same time their own skills and abilities made my job that much easier. It was a wonderful experience and one I hope to continue contributing towards for a long time coming.”

Future Plans

Our aim is to send out at least one team early next year, and if fundraising allows it, a second team later in the year. There is clearly plenty of work left to do out there but from small acorns, big trees grow!

Fundraising starts proper in November as we have some signed books from cat author Marilyn Edwards for raffle and lots of very nice wine- pop in and buy a ticket- £1 a go!

Thanks

This year, in addition to all the private donations and support form our lovely Toachim House clients, families and friends, we received help from the Worldwide Veterinary Service (always there to provide practical help and guidance), Kruuse, Boehringer, MDC exports and Adam at Walkabout Insurance. With Stacey as our money lady and Mrs Gallop’s support it was a real team effort.

Thank you all, once again, and if you have any good ideas for fundraising then let me know!

Heartfelt thanks

Sarah

Toachim House § South Road § Faversham § Kent § ME13 7LR

Phone +44 (0)1795 531313 § Fax +44 (0)1795 591739 § Website www.thvs.co.uk § E-mail info@thvs.co.uk

Andrew Wills BVM&S CertSAO MRCVS § VAT registration 786 2417 03