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A major restructure is currently underway at Harrogate & District Cats Protection. The old system had become unsustainable as several key volunteers departed, creating voids that proved difficult to fill. Running a branch involves so much more than just caring for the cats in the shelter: there are letters and phone calls to be answered, newsletters to be written and photocopied, fundraising activities to be organized, publicity to be arranged, homing visits, forms to be filled-in, visits to the vet, food, litter and sundries to be ordered...the list goes on and on.
An increasing and unacceptable burden of work fell on Alan and Bette Cowsill, at whose property the shelter is located. There was a real danger that the branch might implode and cease to exist.
At a special public meeting on September 25th last year, new plans were announced and a clutch of new volunteers recruited. Individual pens will be installed at the properties of various fosterers, while the shelter will ultimately be reduced to a single 'admissions' pen, where new arrivals will be checked and if necessary, given veterinary treatment. This should ensure the long-term future of the branch, and an additional advantage will be that, with cats held at separate locations, the risk of cross-infection will be eliminated.
In addition, a new committee has been formed. The combination of fresh blood, new ideas and enthusiasm, together with the experience of the old-timers, promises a bright future.
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