Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Canterbury_cats (Sharon) on March 29, 2007, 20:19:03 PM
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Hello all
Just a thought I would post and see if anyone can help!
Being a small branch we dont have much slack for lost and found and recently lost our lost and found register person. I think its really annoyinglost and found as all rescues end up reinventing the wheel so to speak. I have asked CP HQ to perhaps set up one central database but they dont think its a good idea!
Anyhow any one out there with some free time (whats that!) who lives SE was be prepared to volunteer some time for us and set up a lost and found register for our branch?
Notify vets and rescue, you know the usual stuff.
We just don't have the time to check and make logs, all we can do is do posters for the cats in our care and give advise to general public.
We dont really have a good PetSearch this way, there is no central database, just lots of little ones. We just cover the CT areas of Kent, and also Faversham area as well.
Anyhows just a thought, you never know who is on the forum.
Someone with a grip of IT and has email access and a telephone may be able to help us help all those lost cats out their, at the moment we just try our best.
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Good Luck finding someone ... I would love to offer to help but unfortunately I am not local (Nottingham).
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Like wise but in wales :(
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I wish you a lot of luck with this. I am out of district so not much help.
I know it's not the point of your post but what was the reason given for CP HQ not wanting to set up a central register. It has always bugged me that if you lose a person you can go to the nearest police and they will use their countrywide network to help trace a missing person. If it is a cat, the owner is confronted by a barrage of independent charities and branches of CP, RSPCA, etc many of whom they do not know.
Whilst the numbers rof missing cats are far greate than people, it irks me that so much time and efort is duplicated. It could be better used elsewhere in cat welfare, I wish their was one central data base serviced by a network of people. CP as the leading cat charity in the UK should be looking to set an example to co-ordinate this but there doesn't seem to be the will at HQ. I have my suspicions why.
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There main reason is that cats can travel along way and descriptions are fought with difficultly. I know thats a problem but it would at least help the situation. Besides they have the resources I dont! They give the idea that a black cat missing in Kent may of travelled from afar and it is difficult to match up. What I say is that something on a central scale is better then nothing.
I suppose what we should be doing is supplying chipping vouchers with neutering vouchers, or making it law to chip your cat.
If I had the time I would add it to the list of jobs I already do for the branch but the fact is lost and found is a job in itself and I just dont have the spare time to do that.
Still enough of my gripes for the morning, but we have a preg mum in our care at the moment found wondering near a school on the verge of getting run over. She looks in good condition but no one has reported her missing, everything "thinks" she is a stray but again no chip and no collar.
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I suppose what we should be doing is supplying chipping vouchers with neutering vouchers
I think most rescues do chip before re-homing nowadays. As previously advised a few years ago CP started to chip and offered free training to every branch. It is easy peezy as the idenTichip rep comes to the house to train you. At one time we had 3 fosterers trained in a morning, well in about an hour really. All a branch needs to do is contact HQ and ask and they will arrange it. Thank you this has reminded me to order some more chips for one of the fosterers.
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Hope you don't mind Sharon but I called the Whitstable volunteer centre (based at Tankerton castle) They said if someone calls on Monday after 10.30, they will put some feelers out. They said they basically match volunteers up with various jobs and don't see any reason why they couldn't find somebody for this. If that's any help, either I can call them or you as you have a better idea of what's involved.
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Same here really, I would have some spare time but am in Somerset so really no help. Mark's idea sounds like it would definitely be worth a try though.