An animal rescue group is looking to set up a hub in south Auckland to help reduce strays and rehome older cats in the area.
9 Lives Orphanage presented their need to the Manurewa Local Board, asking for support to establish a cat rescue centre.
Roxanne Mason said the hub would benefit local strays and domesticated cats, and would educate, rehome and offer support services.
The group was currently operating from a volunteer’s home.
“We would also like the centre to be housing for older cats, a designated place because older cats are hard to rehome,” Mason said.
She had some in her house last year for nine months, “because people want kittens, they don’t want older cats”.
“So, if we get one place, a community hub where we could have older cats, people could come through the day and meet them, and adopt them that way.”
The group had identified an ideal site on Maich Rd, and envisioned the Manurewa cat rescue hub to cost $300,000.
“We currently [have] $80,000 saved up that we’ve been fundraising over the last five years, and we think in the next six months we could save another $20,000 so we’re hoping to contribute a third towards this project.
“Why is the centre important? Stray cats are a growing problem in south Auckland,” she said.
She said 9 Lives Orphanage successfully re-homed 2,618 cats annually.
“In addition to adoption and rescue, we also actively participate in the track measure return programmes, helping to reduce stray cat population through community desexing initiatives and grants.”
Mason said 9 Lives Orphanage was a registered charity, established in 2014 in Manurewa, and had 80 volunteers a year.
Manurewa Local Board chair Matt Winiata said they would look into what support they could offer.
“You’ve done a lot of the hard work … no promises of course but we certainly appreciate what you’ve presented and the work that you do,” Winiata said.
“It’s heart breaking seeing kittens in a box, and knowing that there are people we can take them to … sacrificing your own homes.”
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