Help us to bring them from darknes into the light.

And show just like LESLEY and LIA that you have RESPECT for the animals who are suffering by wearing this BRACELET!!

To pay for food, medical care and neutering Lesley and Lia sell nice bracelets for only                           €5.00.

 If you want to order, then send 5.00 euros (because postage) with your name and adress to: Lia van der Meijde Apartado 872, 8200-911 Albufeira Portugal
and it is getting sent as soon as possible

Amigos dos Gatos do Algarve
Dear Cat lover,

Thank you for taking an interest in our charity. According to the Kennel Club of Cascais, there are 1 Million stray or abandoned dogs in Portugal. Based on theis estimate there must be several million stray and feral cats living with little or no human protection.The number increases every year as each female cat can produce several litters of up to six kittens in a year. Many of them live in poor conditions and are prone to disease through mal -treatment, injury and lack of food, especially in the winter month when many of the restaurants close down and scraps of food become unavailable. Our aim is to relieve the suffering of feral and stray cats in the Algarve, and to educate the public in their care and wellfare.


As you can imagine the amount of money we need to raise to make any real impact is enormous. To neuter a female cat costs € 55 and a male € 30. To feed just one cat in a colony is around € 2 per week (€ 100 a year). We raise money in a number of ways, including a charity shop located at the top of the strip behind the chemist. This is open 7 days a week and is greatful for all contrbutitions of saleable items and volunteers to help in the day to day running. We also have many charity events to raise money, both here and in the U.K. These can take the form of car boot sales, quiz nights, dinners and raffles to name but a few.

Clube Albufeira is a sprawling tourist complex with villas and apartments spread over a wide area set in landscaped gardens with many trees, bushes and flower beds. There are 4 Restaurants and 4 swimming pools. Of course, wherever there is an open space, there is also cats !
In the Summer, holiday makers feed the cats but last winter the complex was empty. No guests, all facilities closed. No-one to feed the cats.
3 different employees raised the alarm. There were MANY cats all starving and searching for food. Nobody knew how many cats----just A LOT.
AGA immediately started a feeding programme and research to plan a neutering campaign.
43 cats were neutered and returned. 13 kittens 2/3 months old were taken away, fostered and placed in good homes.
Some cats needed treatment and short hospitalisation at the local vet clinic. Some had eye problems 2 cats had an eye removed. Another cat was hospitalised for a fractured front paw, but recovered well and went «home». For a while, we filled up the little hospital of Dr Paulo Cafe with our Clube Albufeira «wounded»!

                                                             
Dr Paulo performed some of the neutering and other surgery. Dr Sarah Langridge (our friend and former Worldwide Vet Service volunteer) made 2 visits to get through the large number of cats to be neutered in the shortest possible time. The race was on to get the job done before the next SEASON when all the cats mate again and bring the Spring Tide of kittens. It never stops unless we stop it !!
Now, different story. 43 cats at Clube Albufeira. All neutered ,all part of a feeding programme along with many other lucky cats.
The trouble is that there are many , many hotels and tourist complexes here. We must keep rolling all the time with neutering and feeding ,and we need money to make that possible.