# Cats/Kittens from abroad



## GingerJasper (Oct 29, 2012)

This may be ignorance on my part (please feel free to put me right) but I cannot understand when looking on the adoption page that people are asking for homes to adopt cats/kittens from abroad.

I read on many pages from UK cat rescue centres that there are more kittens/cats needing homes than ever before in this country so why would people bring in unwanted cats from other countries?


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

In answer to your post although some dont agree with helping cats or kittens from abroad i feel all cats and kittens deserve a chance of a happy life no matter where they have come from.
I have a rescue cat from the uk and hoping to also help a kitten from romania so i think ive helped both sides of the world.


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## GingerJasper (Oct 29, 2012)

Your right a cat in need is a cat in need I just think that we have so many closer to home that need helping 1st.


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## rose (Apr 29, 2009)

I can see your point, the problem is although there are a lot of rescue cats and kittens, there are also a lot of charities trying to help them.
The poor cats in romania and turkey etc have no one to help unless someone from uk is prepared to step in. I know we have people that are cruel to animals but in eastern europe it appears to be their culture.


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

_i think well done to anyone who adopts or ruscues a cat/kitten where ever its from,xxxxx_


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

I can understand your point. But cats in rescue centres in this country are far better off than cats (and dogs) in some European countries. A lot of countries, like Romania and Bulgaria especially, do not have many animal lovers and as a whole, do not see pet animals like we do. They need our help more than British ones sometimes.


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

then we can go onto homechecks.
other countries only ask for an adoption fee and a neuter contract.
our rescues are too strict in some rules eg:
the rescue i foster for dont like it if you live along a main road, have children under 5 years old, you have to have a cat flap and allow free access and you are limited to the number of animals you already own, so basically i would be refused a homecheck on the basis of:
1. my cats are safe indoors but have access to an outside run....
2. i own and breed pedigree cats and have 8 cats already, 6 of them pets.
3. i refuse to have a cat flap.
4. i live in a village but my door is still outside a road which is the village access road.

do you see my point...sometimes the rules are so strict that even if i can provide a loving forever home rspca wont allow me to rescue a cat, so i really have no choice but to rescue from abroad.
if our own rescues would relax the rules just slightly and allow cats to be indoor pets then more animlas would be in a loving home rather than stuck in rescue.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

catcoonz said:


> then we can go onto homechecks.
> other countries only ask for an adoption fee and a neuter contract.
> our rescues are too strict in some rules eg:
> the rescue i foster for dont like it if you live along a main road, have children under 5 years old, you have to have a cat flap and allow free access and you are limited to the number of animals you already own, so basically i would be refused a homecheck on the basis of:
> ...


I have to agree - the rules are too strict over here!! We've never liked rescue centres for this very reason!!


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

happysaz133 said:


> But cats in rescue centres in this country are far better off than cats (and dogs) in some European countries. .


But they are still in rescue centres and not being adopted. Earlier today I went to "home" check a rescue centre who want to be part of Animal Lifeline UK, there were about 7 cats in their isolation building, one of which was a tiny 6 week old tabby kitten who had been brought in as not wanted . While we are bringing in cats from overseas who is going to give that little kitten a home.

GingerJasper while our opinion is not widely shared, I agree with you.


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

i dont disagree and i hope a home is found for our own rescues but i do feel cats in need no matter where they are are in need, maybe if our rescues was to be a little slacker on strict rules we would be able to rehome our own much quicker.
this is the reason i want to set up my own rescue to allow our own cats to have a loving home.


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## skip (Sep 25, 2011)

Must admit I personally wouldn't consider rehoming a cat from abroad as we are inundated with cats needing homes here in the uk, I know however people will disagree and I respect that


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## GingerJasper (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks for all the above comments I suppose there will always be different opinions on the subject of rescue.

This was my 1st attempt at putting a thread on here i'm a bit of a techno phobe and still trying to work things out on here. 

Thank you all for being gentle with me.


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

everybody's opinion counts, nobody agrees with everything and its just nice to have others thoughts on something. if we all agreed with each other life would be boring.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Cookieandme said:


> But they are still in rescue centres and not being adopted. Earlier today I went to "home" check a rescue centre who want to be part of Animal Lifeline UK, there were about 7 cats in their isolation building, one of which was a tiny 6 week old tabby kitten who had been brought in as not wanted . While we are bringing in cats from overseas who is going to give that little kitten a home.
> 
> GingerJasper while our opinion is not widely shared, I agree with you.


Yes I realise that, which is why I have 3 from the CP. But I don't think any cat should be denied a home due to geography.


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## scatchy (Nov 29, 2011)

Just to put things into perespective. The very small number of cats that get adopted into the UK from Eastern Europe really makes no impact on the huge number of cats that are rehomed every year.
My handful of "foreigners" coming over here are not the problem of cat overpopulation in this country.

The problem is irresponsible pet ownership - people who do not get their pets neutered and people who acquire cats and then decide they no longer want them.
It is sad that cats are in shelters but at least they are in shelters - safe, well fed, vet treatment provided, etc. and most find homes sooner or later. 
"Rescued" is a much over-used word here . Many cats in shelters are not rescued from anywhere, they have been surrended by owners who do not want them anymore.
This is a very different situation to Eastern Europe where large numbers of animals live on the streets with no human help. 

How often in this country do you see paralysed dogs dragging themselves around the street trying to find food or kittens with hideously swollen and ruptured eyes sitting and crying because they don't know what else to do.
Not often. In fact in nearly 40 years of being involved with animal rescue I have never seen a paraylsed dog dragging itself around the streets here.
In just of a couple of years helping overseas rescuers I know of dozens.

Some people seem able to take an "out of sight out of mind" attitude to the suffering of animals, for some of us it is not so easy. If I know there is a problem I want to try to do something about it.

I know some people think that the homeless street animals should be culled. I do not. The fledgling animal welfare movement in eastern Europe is doing it's best to educate people and encourage them to respect and show compassion towards animals. Mass slaughter of homeless cats and dogs is not the example they are trying to set.

Finally my adoptions from abroad are what might be termed a niche market. The people who adopt through me from abroad usually do so for a particular reason. Either they have seen a cat of an unusual colour or one very similar to a previous pet. Either that or they have been touched by the story of a cat that has suffered in some way. A victim of abuse, one involved in accident that has lost a limb, a blind cat, etc.
Most of the adopters already have at least one cat and are not usually seeking another - it is just that one particular cat seems to reach out to them in some way.
So it is not a case of someone choosing to adopt a Romanian tabby rather a British tabby and "stealing" a home from a British cat. For most people they are not making a choice there is only one particular cat they know they have to help.


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

would also like to add, some of our vets actually spend many weeks in other countries doing neutering.


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2012)

I don't want to start a debate but these are just my experiences and viewpoints. Where I appreciate the hard work the RSPCA do, I am not a huge fan as there does seem to be double standards sometimes and if I lived like the RSPCA Fosterer that I got Kizzy from they (the RSPCA) would take the majority of the cats away from me. I was shocked to be honest. She had cats everywhere in every room and not just one or two. She had a cat giving birth in her bathroom. She had them walking around her kitchen, on the work units and across the top of the oven. I can understand why sometimes people do not go to rescue centres and get their cats from adverts eg Preloved like I did with Betsy. I know I enquired about getting a kitten from the Cats Protection League but would not be able to as my cats don't go outside and they only rehome to homes where kittens could go out but mine do have access to 2 dog crates which are outside and can watch the world go by if they want to. I also phoned a local rescue about a kitten before I got Betsy and because I had a young child that would also disqualify me. My daughter has grown up with cats as I had Kizzy and Eric before I became pregnant and while she can pick up Betsy at the moment I am very strict with her and she knows the rules. It never even crossed my mind to rehome my cats when I became pregnant but did have to give up my other animals and a friend of mine took them as I could not look after them as I wanted to as I was quite ill. I did take precautions when cleaning out the litter trays.


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