Reducing Companion Animal Births and Increasing Human Responsibility

Purring would seem to be, in her case, an automatic safety valve device for dealing with happiness overflow. ~Monica Edwards

All of us who began RAWR started our journey in other places. Some of us found ourselves almost unwittingly pulled in to animal welfare by circumstances, having never made the conscious decision to get involved.

Others, volunteered with other animal welfare groups and began to see the enormous problems that those who dared to venture in to the murky lands of animal welfare faced.

We all came together with the idea that rescuing the individual animal – while great for the individual, does not affect the overall problem. There are too many animals and not enough space. RAWR was formed with the idea of tackling the problem at its source – to educate people on the need to neuter and to promote this as the means to curb the tide on the rising over population problem.

RAWR is Born

Cats and kittens arrive here by a variety of means; some are dumped – at the side of busy roads, in car parks, in the middle of nowhere, in the Tourist Office(!); some are reported by concerned neighbours, most are excess of breeding that are not wanted, they are brought with promises that the mother will be neutered – which is often an empty promise.

Others are dumped on the properties of people the dumper believes is an animal person – as far as they are concerned they have done the best by this animal by putting it within reach of someone who actually cares enough to intervene. And still others are less fortunate – they can be tossed from a moving vehicle or worse. The survivors are all lucky to be alive.

Nearly every kitten & cat that has passed through our doors has had a belly fat with worms (in contrast with their undernourished, skeletal body), is riddled with fleas and ear mites and, more often than not, can barely see for some kind of eye infection or other. Adult males are also usually raggedy with torn ears, patches of fur missing and/or numerous scratches from fighting. What breaks my heart is it only takes a few days to see an improvement and often the animal appears completely healthy and cared for after just a few weeks. Kittens we think are only 5 weeks old when they arrive blossom and have growth spurts which leave me wondering if they’re actually several weeks older. Males we neuter are much less aggressive and will live longer as a result. Neutered females also live longer – and won’t have to cope with scavenging for food for litter after litter that, despite their efforts, end up dying before maturity. Food and care make such a difference; early treatment, before these problems get out of control needn’t be expensive and certainly isn’t time consuming – if caught at onset eye infections can be often be cleared up simply by regular bathing in water. But for some reason negligence seems to be the rule rather than the exception in this area.

So it was due to what seems to be a shocking case of ‘supply seriously exceeding demand’ that gave birth to RAWR’s mantra: Neuter, Neuter, Neuter.

The easiest way to contact us is by email to:- info@rawr.ie

If you’re looking for information on TNR or vets near you, please tell us where you live or we won’t be able to help you! And if you’re enquiring about adopting kittens or have a complicated query, please let us know your phone number so we can contact you.

We will try to reply within three days, but please be patient with us if it takes us a little longer – RAWR is run entirely by volunteers!

Please note we are not a rescue organisation and will not take on felines or canines. We do help by giving advice and support to people needing to re-home vaccinated and neutered pets and strays.

Thanks! The RAWR Team

RAWR is run completely by unpaid volunteers all of whom give their time and efforts free. If you can identify with our aims and our drive for a better future for all animals, please contact us. You can call into our Charity Shop in New Street, Bantry County Cork, email us at info@rawr.ie or send us a personal message on facebook.

Without help from volunteers RAWR cannot function. Below are a few of the areas in which your help is invaluable.

· Join our animal welfare network

· Cat trapping and returning

· Animal transportation to and from vets

· Short-term animal fostering

· Home visits

· Fundraising

· Provide legal and financial advice

· Come and help in our shop

· Host a pet food donations box

· Donate good quality items for sale

· Host a RAWR collection box

· Neuter your pets

· Shake a bucket for our street collection

· Make us home crafted items to sell in our shop

Bring us your brilliant ideas!

IF YOU CAN’T ADOPT YOU COULD FOSTER

IF YOU CAN’T FOSTER YOU COULD VOLUNTEER

IF YOU CAN’T VOLUNTEER YOU COULD SPONSOR

EVERYONE CAN DO SOMETHING