MEOW TO THE rescue
By Muriel Cooper Photos Gary Sissons & Supplied
L
ook at that cute face – those eyes! Why is it that cats get such a bad rap for being – well – catty? Kelly Davidson from the cat rescue organisation Meow Rescue has some answers and wants to dispel those myths.
"We’ve found homes for many cats and kittens that were considered unadoptable and bound for euthanasia." Cats with special needs such as diabetes or seizures can live long and happy lives with proper care and attention.
In 2018 nurse Kelly and three friends, Louise Cook, a veterinary nurse, Kylie Harris and Tiff Edwards, all with different backgrounds in animal rescue, decided to come together and do something to make a difference in the community. They put in $250 each and formed Meow Rescue. It’s now grown into a not-for-profit organisation with fantastic volunteers and foster carers that has found forever homes for many hundreds of cats and kittens. Kelly says smaller animal rescue organisations are the backbone of the rescue community.
So why do cats get such a bad rap? The irrational superstition about black cats still persists, and Kelly says they are often the last to be adopted and the first to be euthanised. But cats also have a reputation for being distant and fickle. Is that really true?
E ssence
18 | PENINSULA
January 2023
Anthrozoologist at Bristol University in the UK, John Bradshaw, in his book ‘Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet’, says cats, like humans, can hold a grudge. continued page 20...