Battersea Dogs and Cats partners with iCatCare
Through the Global Programmes strategy, Battersea works with organisations across the UK and internationally to help improve animal welfare on a global scale
Battersea Dogs and Cats has collaborated with International Cat Care (iCatCare) to improve the welfare of millions of cats worldwide, as it celebrates its 140th anniversary of helping cats.
iCatCare has developed the Cat Friendly Homing (CFH) programme, which will aim to fundamentally improve the welfare of cats around the world by shifting current approaches to rehoming in the sector towards a more “proactive” and “strategic” way of working, and in turn improve cat population management on a long-term, global scale.
Battersea’s three-year grant includes plans to support the rescue sector to become more professional and sustainable, deliver veterinary training around key subjects including neutering and shelter medicine, and bring together experts and organisations to tackle cat population management together more effectively.
Through the Global Programmes strategy, Battersea works with organisations across the UK and internationally to help improve animal welfare on a global scale.
As part of this work, last year it was awarded twenty grants to rescues and other organisations across six countries, benefiting almost 350,000 dogs and cats.
Roxanne Nazir, head of grants and programmes at Battersea, said: “At Battersea we believe it is our responsibility to help not only the animals that are brought to our centres in need of our care, but to help millions more by working with organisations like iCatCare towards a shared goal of improving the lives of dogs and cats around the world.
“We are proud to support such an ambitious programme and as we mark our 140th anniversary of helping cats, there couldn’t be a better time to announce this collaboration. We cannot wait to see the impact this work begins to have on feline welfare and the rehoming sector over the next three years and beyond.”
Vicky Halls, head of unowned cats at International Cat Care, added: “Currently, we have not one crisis but a perfect storm of challenges, including the impact of a global pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, impacting severely on an already overstretched sector.
“Now is the time for us to adapt, stop the never-ending cycle of reactivity and make a change for cat welfare. Cat Friendly Homing, an iCatCare initiative, represents a shift to a more proactive way of working that will not only tackle the problem at a population level, but also help more unowned pet cats to achieve the outcome that best suits their needs.”
