County Mayo, Southern Ireland (28 October – 3 November 2003)
Maureen O’Mally-Gibbons of Mayo Cat Rescue (MCR) sent in a letter to us to see if we could help with a problem they were experiencing with feral cats on remote farms. The way the letter was written showed that Maureen was a committed cat rescue worker and would really benefit from our help.
Our sterilisation team made up of Liz Varney, Billy Thompson, Candice Buchanon MRCVS , Helen Overington VN and Emily Bakry VN flew out from Stanstead airport to Knock airport in County Mayo and were met by the MCR team.
Maureen had provided an excellent house to carry out the operations and another house nearby for the team to stay in. She had also compiled a well organised list of sites for the team to begin trapping immediately. Our team worked hard and trapped and sterilised 95 cats in spite of torrential rain and wind. The vet also treated one cat with an injured eye that needed removing.
The IAR team were keen to mention that the quality of the accommodation and the friendly welcome they received from all the members and supporters of MCR was far more than they expected. All team members have asked if they can return next year to continue the work.
Maureen O’Mally-Gibbons seemed equally delighted , this is an extract of an e-mail sent to Alan Knight our Chief Executive:
“Hi Alan, the team are back home by now from the Irish trip and I just wanted to say, what a fantastic job they did while they were here. They worked so hard. They are a wonderful team and worked extremely well together. Liz and Billy did fantastic trapping the cats, sometimes in the pouring rain. Candice and Helen and Emily took such care of each and every cat, nothing was too much trouble. The level of care shown to each animal was of the highest standard. Words cannot describe how happy we were to have them all here and have them donate their time, their skill and their enthusiasm. For me personally, it has given me a tremendous boost knowing so many cats will not be producing kittens in the near future. It goes without saying we would love to have them all back again. Perhaps in the summer as the days would be longer and the weather (hopefully!) a bit better. So please keep us in mind for May/June 2004.”