© SOS Matous de Chanteloup
One Voice, who has fought against feline straying for years, implements three-way partnerships with towns or drop-in centres and local associations to microchip and neuter homeless cats and release them, while finding them a wooden chalet for them to rehydrate themselves, eat, and take comfort. This is therefore what has happened in Chanteloup-les-Vignes in the Yvelines region, where the local association ‘SOS Matous de Chanteloup’ [Tomcats in Chanteloup SOS] and the mayor have appealed to One Voice for them to take charge of the problem of stray cats in the town. The Chatipi programme allows cats without a human family to no longer suffer from deprivation. The official opening of the Chatipi will take place in Chanteloup-les-Vignes on Saturday 9 April at 11am.
The official opening will take place in front of the Chatipi on Saturday 9 April at 11am on Rue d’Arquelin, near the big top of the Compagnie des Contraires, in the presence of Sophie Chergui, president of the SOS Matous de Chanteloup Association, and local associations and councillors. Finally, Cindy Tucci, point of contact for the activist group Paris-Ile de France, will represent One Voice.
The website dedicated to the Chatipi programme was launched at the beginning of March and gives a lot of information on this educational programme advantageous to cats.
Chatipi: a lasting solution for the vicious circle of feline straying
Chatipi is a plan with the ethical aim of creating areas for stray cats in order to keep them safe while raising awareness among citizens of their suffering and needs. Around twenty are currently being developed. Several Chatipis have been established near residential care homes for the elderly, nursing homes, or hospitals to bring comfort to the residents, and close to schools as One Voice’s goal is fundamentally to teach about cats.
In fact, we too often mistakenly describe these small felines as independent animals, when they are very affectionate, loyal, and dependent, which makes them vulnerable in the event of being abandoned.
That being said, feline straying is not only caused by abandonment. This vicious circle begins with erroneous assumptions about cats, particularly that they have an intrinsic need to reproduce in order to be happy, which leads to their human families not always getting them neutered. Many cat births take place in the wild. In any case, these kittens, when they survive, are hit by hunger, cold, and illness. They are neither microchipped nor neutered, because their humans are sometimes not even aware that these kittens exist. And so litters only continue to multiply in these circumstances. Towns or drop-in centres must manage these individuals faced with this misfortune, which also has an impact on biodiversity.
Sharing out tasks and responsibilities in Chanteloup-les-Vignes
One Voice, who invented the Chatipi concept, provides the chalet and is responsible for the veterinary fees and for feeding around twenty cats at the beginning of the operation (neutering, microchipping, tests) as well as the educational board. The mayor built the concrete slab and, with the local association, carried out the assembly of the chalet and its layout. The local association will manage the trapping for neutering the cats and monitor their health. They will also ensure that they are fed and that the chalet is clean.
Translated from the French by Joely Justice
