We can't let the stray cats of Morocco starve!

1. In Morocco, Valerie has almost no kibble left to feed the street cats, they will starve if nobody helps them!

"Since March 2020 there is no more tourism in the country. Stray animals have been left behind, in the absence of tourists and the activities related to tourists, they no longer have the resources to feed themselves. The main difficulty therefore remains the lack of means to feed these stray animals so that they do not starve to death at this time.

Currently we feed around 500 cats in the streets of the province of Essaouira, the number of abandoned cats has exploded during the crisis. And it is much more difficult to find donations to feed them now: as it is, we have no more kibble for the street cats, we feed them with puppy food that we were able to get, but we only have 5 bags left.

In winter, if the cat is malnourished, he will develop diseases more easily such as coryza, ringworm... because his immune system is weak. If we don't find kibble, we fear the reappearance of many cases of sick cats, with a very high mortality rate".

2. Without kibbles, the association will have to stop its actions for street cats and their rescues.

" In response to the sanitary crisis, we created the Street Shepherd, a group of several volunteers, each with a specific area to make daily rounds to feed the abandoned animals. 

This allows us to follow the feline or canine population, to get them used to the human touch in order to be able to sterilise them, and to provide care in the event of injuries or accidents. But we are afraid that everything will come to a halt due to lack of resources. Afraid of losing all the work done so far, of losing the confidence of the animals and of the population and of having to stop, purely and solely, our activities.

Our action is necessary because no one else is here for them except for the associations. The public authorities are washing their hands of it and the local population has neither the means nor the culture to help the animals. We are not losing faith, but the future is uncertain because of Covid".

3. In spite of a serious wound that was highly infected, Camoun was left to fend for himself on the street, where he would have died if the association had not taken him in.

"Camoun is a young cat of 7 months, he arrived here five days ago. A young man walked 8km on foot to bring him to us, he has a big infection in his mouth, probably due to a fracture from a blow or an accident.

He is under antibiotic and anti-inflammatory treatment, the infection has already diminished, further examinations are planned if necessary. He is already starting to be able to eat kibbles, which he will need to get back on his feet. He is a cat that would have died of hunger and septicaemia if we had not taken him in".

4. Donations have dried up since the lockdown, while costs continue to increase. The association no longer has enough resources to feed the street cats.

"During lockdown, donations helped us to hold on, we took the cheapest kibbles from the market, which we mixed with pasta or rice. But now, either the crisis has gone on too long and people can no longer afford to donate, or they think the situation has returned to normal. So donations have decreased, and we have lost donors because of the current crisis.

We also have a shelter with 34 cats, most of them disabled, chronically ill or in remission. We have to be responsible for them as a priority. And we also rescue many equids, but Morocco is in a period of drought, the slightest bale of hay sells for 5€... so we have many difficulties that overlap. 

We are reaching a point where we can no longer buy kibbles for street cats, we can't do more because our resources are used up, but the work is still huge and we need help".

5. Valerie is not asking for money, only kibbles to keep the street cats from starving.

"Our association has been existing since 2014, and our shelter for 13 years. And for more than 13 years, we have been living only for these animals, and to improve their living conditions in Morocco.

Preventing stray cats from starving is the priority, from this comes the fact of having a calm, peaceful feline population, which will not be aggressive with the population, and will be more easily accepted.  Often the abandonment and rejection of street cats is due to disease, as people do not have the means to treat them and are afraid of transmission.

Actions like the Street Shepherds show that the vision of the animal changes if people are informed and witness a better way of doing things. For example, we have many adoptions of socialised and healthy cats following their passage through our association. We are afraid that we will lose all the work we have done and that it will be useless, especially the change of mentality of the local population towards stray animals".

6. If this campaign succeeds, Valérie will not receive any money but 1800 kg of kibbles, delivered from Animal Webaction's logistics platform in Morocco.

Animal Webaction has a logistics platform in Morocco, which enables us to intervene quickly and deliver kibbles.

7. The help provided by international foundations has run out, but the needs and difficulties persist, the association needs more support to continue feeding the street cats.

"All the actions are carried out with our own funds, private donations through sponsorships for example, direct donations and online collections. 

We have also received help from various NGOs in the past. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation has already helped us, but they only work on sterilisation, so there has been no follow-up in terms of food aid. The Humane Society International has released an emergency fund for animals in Morocco, we have received 3500$ which is infinitely precious.

But to date, we have spent more than 15000€ on kibbles since the beginning of the crisis, so it is not enough. The rest of the NGOs prefer not to support feeding the animals, they give for specific operations such as sterilisation".

8. Campaigns launched on Animal Webaction often fail.

When a campaign fails, Animal Webaction cannot deliver the collected products, the beneficiary receives nothing and the buyers get a refund..

9. In Morocco, donors are scarce, and there are no foundations or subsidies . It is very difficult to find funding for kibbles, many cats remain starving in the street!

If you know of a foundation or NGO that could help Valerie, please invite them to contact us so that we can put them in touch.

If you represent a Foundation or an NGO for animal protection, please help the cats supported by the association, contact us and we will put you in touch!

If you would like to come to Valérie's shelter, or if you would like to send her directly some kibbles or a cheque, please contact her via the association's Facebook page (note: you are entirely responsible for direct help).

10. If you make a purchase on Animal Webaction, it will be protected by our guarantees.