It has been a long time wish of ours to have a spacious cattery where we could house adoptable street cats into an environment where they could feel comfortable, protected and cared for. This day has finally come and we are delighted to announce that our new cattery is finally open and even more work will be done on it over the next few months.
Aanifeira’s New Cattery
It is a far cry from the days when our hands were tied and we could only accept emergency cases where cats were temporarily housed in largish cages whilst awaiting adoption. With a lot of hard work and many donations from private companies and individuals, this new cattery emerged from the old amphitheatre area where cattle were once auctioned off and where, for several years, many dogs were housed. It was sectioned off into two floors and without incurring too much expense or changing the look of the building, the idea was to make the most of the space and windows on the top floor for the cats. Sixteen large boxes for cats were installed, each glassed on three sides and netted at the top. The idea of glass is to prevent the spread of viral infections as well as reduce noise when visitors come to see the cats. There is more space for additional boxes to be put in and this will be done in a gradual process over the next few months.
Each box has three shelves leading up to a window for cats to see out. The boxes and flooring are easily cleaned as well as the area in the room itself. Check this slide show below of how work progressed over the past few months.
The space on this first floor was large enough that we could also build a spacious back up area where food, cat sand and general cleaning materials could be stored as well as a large playground room where the cats can be let off daily under the supervision of volunteers to kick up their heels! We only need to open the door of their boxes and they run straight to the room to romp and play.
It is such a pleasure to know and see that they have enough space to move around in and that they can live in a clean and temperature controlled environment. Check out the slide show of the playground below.
Aanifeira - Associação dos Amigos dos Animais de Santa Maria da Feira 