Every year, many families make the impulsive decision after a child begs to get the adorable, picture perfect kitten. Regardless of how many warnings have been given, each year 19,233 cats are abandoned with no thought about it - but someone has to pick up the pieces. Additionally, so many owners have movement in their life and don't know where to turn to, a family member has died or someone has become allergic - the things no one can predict. Here in Surrey, the team of volunteers in the Ginger cat house rescue take in all unwanted cats, where they can become another member of their loving community.
14 years ago, June Fraser began fostering cats not knowing what it would become. Over the last 8 years, June and her late husband have been building up their nonprofit with their own hands. They have been watching it become this amazing foundation, helping hundreds of people and of course, cats. In a nonprofit supported by purely volunteers and sponsors, June Fraser said “What keeps me motivated is that we are helping cats, and we are also helping people.”.
So what's so deeply flawed in the cold industry of breeding? June Fraser said the main problem is “Breeders that don't really care, they only care about the money”, which just goes to show that while the breeder can continue to ignore all problems to make a sale, true cat lovers who can’t just sit and watch wait picking up the pieces. The ginger cat house rescue is built purely off volunteers which means every day, sunny or rainy, volunteers will come and help manage this business. With lockdown, so many people have given up on taking care of their cat, which means what is already a prevalent issue has become even more relevant, since the workload has increased. This became a struggle for many nonprofits like Ginger cat house rescue since it became difficult to have volunteers working but needed them more than ever. Nevertheless, they made a quick recovery as now they are able to continue their mission for each cat to have a stable home.
One thing that I believe separates ginger cat house rescue from other non-profits was how much care they take in finding each cat a specific home that's fitted for both the cat and the owner. When going to a breeder, you can get a sense that they will say anything and everything to get a sale, while in contrast here they do a thorough virtual house check as well as a meeting to make sure it's the right fit - a level of care that is rarely found. When asked what they look for in a potential person to adopt, June Fraser said “I’m looking for people who say they are going to vaccinate the cat, ensure the cat, take it to a vet so I can make sure they will take care of it”. They will find specific cats for each person, such as people with anxiety since “We’ve got several therapy cats here that are really good with people with anxiety”.
Finally, June Fraser believes that having a cat, when taken care of correctly can be a beautiful experience for any owner, with a family or not, as she phrased “I think a cat brings a lot of joy to a family, it teaches children responsibility, and it also teaches them about life and death”. If you are interested in adopting, I can confidently say that the ginger cat house rescue will definitely do it correctly for you, and you should definitely visit their website to find more information. www.gingercathouserescue.com
