The Cats Protection charity in Salford and Manchester are offering £5 neutering for households in certain postcodes to help combat the problem of excessive unwanted cats in the UK.
Hannah Wong, coordinator for Manchester’s Cats Protection charity, explains: “The campaign is really important because it is targeting specific areas where we look at the barriers as to why people don’t neuter their cats.
“A lot of the time it is a financial issue because it can be quite expensive. Especially the more urban areas.”
To be eligible for the neutering campaign, one or more of the following guidelines must be met: receipt of certain means-tested benefits, low household income, full-time students living away from home, state-only pension and pension credit.
People living in the following postcodes can also apply for the service: M1-M9, M11-15, M18-M23, M28, M30, M40, M44 or M50.
The campaign can also be used for stray cats – where efforts have been made to find an owner – and micro-chipping at participating Veterinary Practices.
The map below shows participating veterinary practices that are participating in the campaign.
Map key
Red – Neuter and Micro-chipping
Blue – Neuter Only
According to Cats Protection, male cats that have been neutered are less likely to roam in search of a mate, reducing the risk of car accidents and are less likely to contract serious diseases such as Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) or Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV).
Similarly, female cats that have been neutered are less likely to contract FIV or FeLV and cancer of the ovaries or uterus.
Michelle Merrett, a Veterinary Nurse at Vets4Pets said: “We encourage owners of cats to neuter them because it really helps cats health-wise as well as having unwanted litters.
“For Tom cats, they tend not to want to roam so far, they tend not to need to fight. If they are roaming and fighting they can get run over and also there is a higher risk of them spreading disease.”
Cats Protection estimates that there are nine million stray cats and one-and-a-half million feral cats in the UK and urge cat owners to neuter their pets so that this number is not amplified.
• To check if your cat is eligible under the neutering scheme, contact Cats Protection’s neutering team directly on 03000 12 12 12 (option 2) Monday to Friday, 9.30am – 1pm.
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