TUFCAT Feral Cat Project Needs Your Help

TUFCAT (a registered NPO and PBO) is primarily a feral cat organization based at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, South Africa. However, we also have a ‘Home for Life’ cat sanctuary on a smallholding near Villiersdorp (a fruit farming region in the Overberg). There are also 20 dogs living at the sanctuary. Most of the residents are special cases – old, disabled and struggled to find homes.

Apart from caring for the ferals and sanctuary residents, we also do outreach work on various farms and we assist farmworkers with vet care, vaccinations, food, blankets, kennels, fencing to get dogs off chains etc. We have monthly sterilization days, often on site. Since October 2018, we have sterilized 686 animals in and around Villiersdorp. We also helped to find homes for 94 animals in 2019 alone.

Trapping and sterilizing is ongoing at UWC, where around 90% of the feral cats have already been done. The UWC feral cats are very fortunate as they have Patrick, their own full-time caretaker.

The global COVID 19 pandemic has brough about enormous challenges for TUFCAT. Not only did we take in numerous destitute and desperate cats before the lockdown, we also lost our main sources of fund-raising, viz., selling donated 2^nd hand books to students on UWC campus and have our charity shop in Villiersdorp.

We have not been able to fundraise our usual way, hence this appeal to friends and people whose cats we have taken in, to help us continue with our work.

Animal lovers are welcome to sponsor a cat (R150 per month). We will send you pictures and updates about your cat.

The South African Rand is at an all-time low so the smallest amount (dollars, euros, pounds etc) will go a long way. We can issue 18A certificates for local donations.

We urgently need to:

Pay, or at least, dent our HUGE vet bill so that we can continue to help animals in need,
Purchase 2 more automatic cat traps,
Upgrade the cat accommodation and fencing at the sanctuary.