Official opening of the Yeu Island Chatipi on 30 April 2024
One Voice, who have fought against feline straying for years, are implementing three-way partnerships with town councils or drop-in centres and local associations to microchip, neuter, and care for homeless cats and release them, while providing them with a wooden chalet for them to rehydrate themselves, eat, and take shelter. The Chatipi programme therefore allows cats without a human family to find shelter. The Chat Toit Yeu and the Yeu Island town council have contacted One Voice for this. The official opening will take place at the Chatipi on Tuesday 30 April at 11:30am on rue Saint-Hilaire (Grotte de Saint-Amand) on Yeu Island.
The official opening will take place in the presence of the Mayoress, Carole Charuau and her deputy, Ms Le Ralle, and the local Chat Toit Yeu Association in the form of its president, Ms Agathe Dupont Sacquépée, treasurer, Ms Laura Charuau, and Ms Claire Walder-Jarny, their executive secretary who will also represent One Voice in her capacity as volunteer for the association.
Chatipi: a lasting solution for the vicious circle of feline straying
On Yeu Island, many cats who are traumatised by their life of straying cannot be placed with a family. On the island, they lack a safe place where they can release these cats after they have been neutered and a place where they can be fed and monitored. Contrary to popular belief, our feline companions that are abandoned and returned to a life far from humans struggle to survive. They are faced with hunger, bad weather, and illnesses, and they reproduce indefinitely. The Chatipi will offer them the protection they need and will also raise awareness of stray cats’ distress among the local population and tourists. It is for this purpose that several Chatipis have been established throughout France near residential care homes for the elderly, nursing homes, or hospitals to bring comfort to the residents, and close to schools.
Caring for cats to protect biodiversity
Due to the specific nature of this island town, the impact of neglected and starving cats on local biodiversity is all the more significant. Thanks to the Chatipi, cats will be neutered and fed daily, all while benefiting from a comfortable place to live; small wildlife will also be protected.
Sharing out tasks and responsibilities
One Voice, who invented the Chatipi concept, provides the chalet and the cat flaps, the kibble, and the veterinary fees (neutering, microchipping, tests) for 15 cats at the beginning of the operation as well as the educational board. Two cats have already been able to be neutered as part of the Chatipi programme thanks to the work of the Chat Toit Yeu Association and residents worried about cats who have helped with trapping them and taking them to the veterinary clinic. The association has also taken care of ensuring that they are fed every day and the daily maintenance of the chalet. The local council is in charge of building the chalet.
The One Voice site dedicated to the Chatipi programme presents lots of information regarding this educational programme on cats. Sign our petition calling for an urgent plan to sort out the problem of feline straying.