Ola! American with dual Irish citizenship living in Portugal since October. Re: your 'And since I can't help myself' addendum: Historically I've been averse to those with public platforms feeling they need to insert their political or social statements into non-political or social situations. Today we're living in different and dangerous world. What is coming out of US on multiple fronts and being inflicted on Americans and the world is alternatingly anger-inducing, saddening, shameful, embarrassing, disgusting, and historically wrong-sided. Those who can't see it are willfully ignorant and unread, or have ulterior motives or interests. I don't have public platform, so I have nothing but appreciation for those who do who feel need to remind world about what's clearly wrong vs. right. Just thank you.
There are groups sterilising cats such as http://sosalgarveanimals.com/ They sterilised over 300 cats in February in the Algarve as well as several dogs. Obviously cats breed very effectively and so without a lot of action, the problem multiplies.
I have seen in villages such as Alte, Loulé where shelters and food are left for cats, that the cats are also sterilised and treated for parasites.
There is an organisation called StreetLife which has a cat sterilisation program. They are based in East Algarve, definitely worth contacting them. They have a FB page I think
I knew it was going to be this bad. That's why I left the US back in 2020. No one listened to me back then, or last fall after the 2024 election, either. Most of my progressive friends back in the US were still deep in denial just weeks before the inauguration, saying of Trump et al, "He's all talk. He'll never do most of what he says he's going to do." Sadly, they are now waking up to the full extent of the fascism nightmare they are living under. Same holds for most of the liberal world. Only just now are the heads of state in Europe finally waking up to the new reality. It's about time.
I love cats and dogs, equally. I'm glad you wrote about the problem at the root of the feral cat population here. Yes, it's tricky. You don't want to be that ungrateful foreigner complaining about local culture but it is a real problem.
We were told, also by an overworked young man at the city shelter, that we should write to our village mayor and get her onboard, in order to acquire the help of the shelter to commence trapping the cats.
There's a managed colony near my house in Cerro do Ouro. It's set up by SOSAnimals Algarve. Once, when i saw kittens, I contacted the organization and they caught the kittens and got them sterilized. I drop food by for the cats there.
It took a long time for people in US to accept animal sterilization. I remember old ads from the Humane Society saying "Neuter and spay. It's the kindest way" in the 70s.
The US Mump regime is truly hideous. Trying to ambush Zelinskyy embarrassed the US to the world.
Where I live in Sao Martinho do Porto and we too have a feral cat problem. There are people that provide shelters and food for the cats. I have no idea if they spade and neuter them, but next time I see the volunteers, I will ask about this. Regarding the US vote against supporting Ukraine in the UN, I am appalled, and also appalled by the sick trap setup against Zelensky in the Oval Office for the benefit of Putin.
Olá, a thought provoking piece as ever - we have been adopted by currently three cats here in Central Portugal and have sterilised four :) Many in our village and area feed the cats and provide shelters but it is €50 a time and can be very difficult to capture them. In rural areas they are prized for their rodent hunting abilities and surprise was expressed at our keeness to sterilise? The local municipal cat and dog sanctuary is completely overwhelmed to the point where I worry about the single young man I met who was trying to run the place! Many challenges across the world, we do what we can :)))
Great piece. There is a piece of property just down the hill from our house that's been for sale since we moved here - it's about 6 lots with abandoned houses on them. It is FULL of very cute feral cats - my granddaughters love to hang at the fence and visit them. But it looks like it's been sold for development recently and we're all a little concerned about what will happen to the cats. And, as for the US, APOPLECTIC barely describes it. It's like a barrage of ugly out of the US. Every minute of every day. So glad to be here. Thanks for writing.
Hi Nancy.... Melanie from Tavira here. There are volunteers who do TNR (trap, neuter, release), and many organizations helping with sterilizing. Sterilise Our Strays is one (I believe they help individual owners), StreetLife Animal Sterilisation, ADAPO, LOAA, Pakador Assoc.(sp?), etc... Also the municipal vets help in some situations, and the Canil in Tavira is helpful. Another group is The Frankie Foundation for info., etc. It's a huge problem, but there are many good volunteers putting in the work to try and address it..... we could always use more people though!
I have noticed that many Europeans believe dogs and cats are healthier and happier if not fixed. Having spayed and neutered rescues for the last 35 years I can say this is not true. Females in heat go through a lot of behavioral stress as well as the messiness and the health risks of pregnancy, puppies and kittens of strays can die of exposure and predation, and of course unaltered males are much more likely to roam and get into fights. I have wondered if funding a billboard campaign would be helpful (it would have to be sustained with different messages over 12 months). I understand direct mail is illegal in Portugal. I have also thought of funding a mobile vet van to provide low cost or free services, but the local vets may object. A proposal to exempt vet care from the 23% VAT failed 2 years ago. Of course giving money to groups already funding rescue and spay/neuter would be first priority.
It looks like there are a lot of feral cat groups in portugal. I googled "TNR Portugal" and got this. TNR is Trap, Neuter, Return. Of the cats don't reproduce and in one generation there are no more cats. Simple, right? Except humans continue to dump cats on the street so the cycle starts anew. The solution is to get humans to stop dumping unwanted cats on the street and then the efforts of the TNR people would solve the problem in a few years.
Agree with the need to sterilize strays to keep the populations down, I hope that when we move to Portugal I will be able to volunteer in my area and help to get dogs/cats taken care of via a catch/release program. It will take time and patience to change minds and instill new habits, but it can be done. As for the US. :( Words fail me, shock, shame, anger, grief... There isn't really enough alcohol to drown it out - so I am not even going to try. What I am doing is trying to stay sane and emotionally stable while the nation I have grown up in and love falls apart. The vote was awful, the meeting on Friday was worse. I have never seen such pathetic behavior from an elected official. tRump and Vance were acting like the shameless pigs they are (apologies to actual swine) and it was very triggering to anyone who has lived with an abuser. They purposefully 'misinterpreted' what Z was saying to then raise their voices, go into bully mode, demand subservience and lie about the past. We are in a very, very bad place and it just seems to be getting worse each day. As I have said before , we may pull in our timeline for our move to Portugal, we live in a very blue state so we have some buffer, but the coup is real and it is frightening. May we all be safe. Slava Ukrani!!
Maria, you put your finger on it - speaking as a person who was bullied in childhood, this administration's behavior makes me blind with rage and frustration. I have to find a way to avoid this for my own health! Peace to you and best wishes for your moving plans.
Thank you Nancy very much for your interest in working with a charity organization that does catch sterilize and release of the gatos da rua. Would it be possible for you to visit these organizations to offer assistance in their efforts? As someone said in another post, the local animal shelter should have contact information for these organizations. Enjoy your weekly emails😀
Ola! American with dual Irish citizenship living in Portugal since October. Re: your 'And since I can't help myself' addendum: Historically I've been averse to those with public platforms feeling they need to insert their political or social statements into non-political or social situations. Today we're living in different and dangerous world. What is coming out of US on multiple fronts and being inflicted on Americans and the world is alternatingly anger-inducing, saddening, shameful, embarrassing, disgusting, and historically wrong-sided. Those who can't see it are willfully ignorant and unread, or have ulterior motives or interests. I don't have public platform, so I have nothing but appreciation for those who do who feel need to remind world about what's clearly wrong vs. right. Just thank you.
There are groups sterilising cats such as http://sosalgarveanimals.com/ They sterilised over 300 cats in February in the Algarve as well as several dogs. Obviously cats breed very effectively and so without a lot of action, the problem multiplies.
I have seen in villages such as Alte, Loulé where shelters and food are left for cats, that the cats are also sterilised and treated for parasites.
Thanks...
There is an organisation called StreetLife which has a cat sterilisation program. They are based in East Algarve, definitely worth contacting them. They have a FB page I think
Thanks...
I knew it was going to be this bad. That's why I left the US back in 2020. No one listened to me back then, or last fall after the 2024 election, either. Most of my progressive friends back in the US were still deep in denial just weeks before the inauguration, saying of Trump et al, "He's all talk. He'll never do most of what he says he's going to do." Sadly, they are now waking up to the full extent of the fascism nightmare they are living under. Same holds for most of the liberal world. Only just now are the heads of state in Europe finally waking up to the new reality. It's about time.
I love cats and dogs, equally. I'm glad you wrote about the problem at the root of the feral cat population here. Yes, it's tricky. You don't want to be that ungrateful foreigner complaining about local culture but it is a real problem.
We were told, also by an overworked young man at the city shelter, that we should write to our village mayor and get her onboard, in order to acquire the help of the shelter to commence trapping the cats.
There's a managed colony near my house in Cerro do Ouro. It's set up by SOSAnimals Algarve. Once, when i saw kittens, I contacted the organization and they caught the kittens and got them sterilized. I drop food by for the cats there.
It took a long time for people in US to accept animal sterilization. I remember old ads from the Humane Society saying "Neuter and spay. It's the kindest way" in the 70s.
The US Mump regime is truly hideous. Trying to ambush Zelinskyy embarrassed the US to the world.
Where I live in Sao Martinho do Porto and we too have a feral cat problem. There are people that provide shelters and food for the cats. I have no idea if they spade and neuter them, but next time I see the volunteers, I will ask about this. Regarding the US vote against supporting Ukraine in the UN, I am appalled, and also appalled by the sick trap setup against Zelensky in the Oval Office for the benefit of Putin.
Olá, a thought provoking piece as ever - we have been adopted by currently three cats here in Central Portugal and have sterilised four :) Many in our village and area feed the cats and provide shelters but it is €50 a time and can be very difficult to capture them. In rural areas they are prized for their rodent hunting abilities and surprise was expressed at our keeness to sterilise? The local municipal cat and dog sanctuary is completely overwhelmed to the point where I worry about the single young man I met who was trying to run the place! Many challenges across the world, we do what we can :)))
You are doing what you can. Bravo!
Great piece. There is a piece of property just down the hill from our house that's been for sale since we moved here - it's about 6 lots with abandoned houses on them. It is FULL of very cute feral cats - my granddaughters love to hang at the fence and visit them. But it looks like it's been sold for development recently and we're all a little concerned about what will happen to the cats. And, as for the US, APOPLECTIC barely describes it. It's like a barrage of ugly out of the US. Every minute of every day. So glad to be here. Thanks for writing.
Hi Nancy.... Melanie from Tavira here. There are volunteers who do TNR (trap, neuter, release), and many organizations helping with sterilizing. Sterilise Our Strays is one (I believe they help individual owners), StreetLife Animal Sterilisation, ADAPO, LOAA, Pakador Assoc.(sp?), etc... Also the municipal vets help in some situations, and the Canil in Tavira is helpful. Another group is The Frankie Foundation for info., etc. It's a huge problem, but there are many good volunteers putting in the work to try and address it..... we could always use more people though!
Thank you.... emails are now sent to most of these organizations.
I’m planning to retire in Portugal soon - I see a volunteer opportunity 😻 I would love to assist with TNR once settled
Here are a couple of links about sterilizing feral cats in Portugal https://snip-international.org/tails-from-portugal/ https://www.changeforanimals.org/building-capacity-in-portugal
I have noticed that many Europeans believe dogs and cats are healthier and happier if not fixed. Having spayed and neutered rescues for the last 35 years I can say this is not true. Females in heat go through a lot of behavioral stress as well as the messiness and the health risks of pregnancy, puppies and kittens of strays can die of exposure and predation, and of course unaltered males are much more likely to roam and get into fights. I have wondered if funding a billboard campaign would be helpful (it would have to be sustained with different messages over 12 months). I understand direct mail is illegal in Portugal. I have also thought of funding a mobile vet van to provide low cost or free services, but the local vets may object. A proposal to exempt vet care from the 23% VAT failed 2 years ago. Of course giving money to groups already funding rescue and spay/neuter would be first priority.
It looks like there are a lot of feral cat groups in portugal. I googled "TNR Portugal" and got this. TNR is Trap, Neuter, Return. Of the cats don't reproduce and in one generation there are no more cats. Simple, right? Except humans continue to dump cats on the street so the cycle starts anew. The solution is to get humans to stop dumping unwanted cats on the street and then the efforts of the TNR people would solve the problem in a few years.
Here's the results that came up:
https://www.google.com/search?q=TNR+in+Portugal&oq=TNR+in+Portugal&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yDQgCEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgDEAAYhgMYgAQYigXSAQg1NDgyajFqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrom
Agree with the need to sterilize strays to keep the populations down, I hope that when we move to Portugal I will be able to volunteer in my area and help to get dogs/cats taken care of via a catch/release program. It will take time and patience to change minds and instill new habits, but it can be done. As for the US. :( Words fail me, shock, shame, anger, grief... There isn't really enough alcohol to drown it out - so I am not even going to try. What I am doing is trying to stay sane and emotionally stable while the nation I have grown up in and love falls apart. The vote was awful, the meeting on Friday was worse. I have never seen such pathetic behavior from an elected official. tRump and Vance were acting like the shameless pigs they are (apologies to actual swine) and it was very triggering to anyone who has lived with an abuser. They purposefully 'misinterpreted' what Z was saying to then raise their voices, go into bully mode, demand subservience and lie about the past. We are in a very, very bad place and it just seems to be getting worse each day. As I have said before , we may pull in our timeline for our move to Portugal, we live in a very blue state so we have some buffer, but the coup is real and it is frightening. May we all be safe. Slava Ukrani!!
Maria, you put your finger on it - speaking as a person who was bullied in childhood, this administration's behavior makes me blind with rage and frustration. I have to find a way to avoid this for my own health! Peace to you and best wishes for your moving plans.
Thank you Nancy very much for your interest in working with a charity organization that does catch sterilize and release of the gatos da rua. Would it be possible for you to visit these organizations to offer assistance in their efforts? As someone said in another post, the local animal shelter should have contact information for these organizations. Enjoy your weekly emails😀