Friday 14 September 2018

Cardiff Homing and Information Centre Update

 
Since we opened our doors on the 16th of February this year, we have been very successful in our first few months. We have been busy working alongside Pets at Home to organise and deliver charity events, including our Pawsome Afternoon Tea and Support Adoption for Pets fundraising weekend. All our events have been a huge success, raising awareness and funds for our cats in need.
 
 
 
One of our objectives is to educate the public on how to care for cats and their welfare needs. What better way to do this than to teach children the importance of caring for animals? We have had several Kiddy Cat workshops and educational talks on site, where children have been able to get involved and learn the fun way! We always look forward to speaking with our customers, regular and new, who pop in to see the cats and come to us for advice and guidance.
 
 
We’ve been blown away with the rehoming success we’ve had, the turn-over of cats has been brilliant! Since February we have found loving new homes for 89 cats which we are very proud of considering we are such a small centre with only 3 pens.

We have taken on some lovely volunteers who regularly help out here at the HIC, they have been so fabulous as our little centre can get quite busy! However, on those quiet days they have been able to socialise with the cats, this has really helped our nervous ones which need some extra TLC to bring them out of their shells.

 

What are we most proud of? Our success of rehoming long stayers, older cats and black cats. Of which some are all three, sadly black cats and older cats can get over-looked a lot of the time in rescue. We understand the appeal of a cute fluffy kitten but there is a lot to consider as they are hard work. While talking to our customers, we have noticed many are looking for young cats, however what a lot of people don’t realise is that cats can live into their 20’s, so they have lots of love left to give.
 

 
Do you remember Cleo? She was in Bridgend Adoption Centre for over 80 days making her a long stayer, she struggled to find a new home and people continued to pass her by! In August she came down to the HIC giving her more space and she wouldn’t be able to see any other cats, once down here she thrived and her really affectionate personality shone through! It was a happy ending for Cleo her move to the HIC was a success, she found her new home with a dog to call her own. We hope she will live happily with a family that can give her all the attention she needs.
Only having three pens at the HIC allows us to focus the public’s attention to these cats which may have been overlooked, giving the long-stayers a second chance.
 

 
Over the past 7 months we have really enjoyed our new adventure, the Homing and Information Centre has taken off better than we ever could have expected. We appreciate all the support we have received at our fundraising events and people popping in to see us!
We can’t wait to see what the future holds for the HIC, we look forward to continuing our work in the Cardiff area with education talks and finding new homes for the cats in our care.
Thank you once again and we hope to see you soon