VOLUNTEERING
South Birmingham Cats Protection are currently seeking volunteers to help in the following areas.
FOSTERERS - our fosterers are the king-pins of our organisation. Without fosterers, we could not continue our work and we urgently need more of these very special people who are willing to look after our cats and kittens prior to re-homing.
Cats and kittens arrive in many stages of distress. Some have been very badly treated, some simply neglected, some are very ill, many females are pregnant. Older cats arrive after suddenly finding themselves homeless because their owners have moved into nursing homes or died. Our fosterers need the strengths to cope with these situations and to enjoy seeing these little animals, with the help of our vets, restored to health and vitality, and then be happy and willing to let them go to permanent homes.
So we need people who love cats, who understand their behaviour and who would enjoy sharing their homes with a passing circus of felines.
Fosterers can either look after cats and kittens in a room within their own homes or use separate pens, which we supply. Fosterers also decide the maximum number of cats and kittens they wish to have. All expenses including food and litter will be met by Cats Protection.
We support all our fosterers with training and advice and they join a specialist group within the Branch who pool their experience and knowledge.
If you think you would like to join our fostering team please contact us and we will give you more information.
FUND RAISERS - people urgently needed who will enjoy meeting the public whilst raising money for our work.. We need people to staff stalls at organised events, to shake collection boxes, and to work closely at all times with the other members of our fund raising team. Fund raising also means knowing and understanding our work and aims and passing that information on to others. Cats Protection corporate clothing will be provided for all weathers and reasonable expenses will be paid.
CAT TRAPPERS When we are alerted to cats found or abandoned we need to catch them. Where feral cats are concerned it will be necessary to neuter them before returning them to their chosen area. We also often need to trap abandoned or lost domestic cats so that we can either re-unite them with their owner or re-home them. A love of cats, a good understanding of cat behaviour and lots of patience are also necessary as is the ability to deal with, often distressed, members of the public.
We would like to have a couple of teams of Cat Trappers available, who could organise the work to reflect their individual commitments, as trapping can obviously be very time-intensive. A full clean driving licence is necessary for at least one member of any team and a Cats Protection van, fully kitted out, is available. Suitable Cats Protection corporate clothing will be provided, reasonable expenses paid and full training given.
TRANSPORT MANAGER - needed to transport cats to and from vet appointments. This will involve liaising with fosterers and vets. A full clean driving licence is necessary and a Cats Protection van is available. A knowledge and understanding of cat behaviour will be useful. Cats ProtectIon corporate clothing will be provided and reasonable expenses will be paid.
If you would like to become involved with our work through taking on one of these roles, please telephone our Helpline on 0845 371 1854. There are many other ways that you can play a part - please just ask!