Volunteers and advocates of a group devoted to looking after neighborhood cats of their condo residence in Bonifacio Global City are voicing out their issue relating to the condominium’s management and property designers have actually supposedly been doing something about it to eliminate these cats from its facilities.
In an email sent to WhenInManila.com, the volunteer group shared the difficulties of attempting to secure these neighborhood cats over the previous years in the middle of the evident “opposition” by the management and the property designers. Despite efforts made by the volunteer group, including worried homeowners, such as the application of a spaying and neutering program and the effort to connect to pertinent authorities to participate in discussion, the group said that these were constantly “met with disappointments as the scheduled meetings were always canceled at the last minute by [the property developers and condo managers].”
The group included that it was thanks to essential individuals like James Deakin, Marcelle Marcelino (the hero behind the Shangrila BGC cats), and Nancy Cu-Unjieng (Cara Welfare Philippines President) promoting for the defense of their condominium cats on social networks that the volunteer group had the ability to offer these cats with the care they required.
“Through heartwarming stories shared on social media, the residents sought to introduce the community cats and their unique personalities to the world. Slowly but surely, our messages began to resonate, drawing attention to the cause and raising awareness about the need to protect these innocent creatures,” they said. “Our volunteer group has worked tirelessly to care for the community cats providing food, medical attention for their well-being and safety. We have even managed to find loving homes for over 30 community cats, spayed and neutered an additional 50, with many more being cared for, all these using our own personal funds.”
However, they revealed that “the battle was far from won.”
“As we fought to safeguard the community cats, new challenges emerged. Abandoned and dumped cats and kittens continued to be discovered within the [condo] premises and reported to [condo] security and admin. We couldn’t turn a blind eye to these vulnerable creatures, and we took it upon ourselves to rescue, foster, and find them forever homes. We have never posted their stories on our social media as we do not want to be known as a dumping ground for cats,” the group continued.
“Last Saturday, July 22, 2023, [the condo management] required an Annual General Meeting. In participation of that conference were simply 25 homeowners which disappoints the correct quorum. Despite the absence of quorum, these homeowners together with the [officers and admin] continued with the conference. One or more homeowners made remarks and grievances about the neighborhood cats pooping on their cars and trucks, scratching their cars and trucks, and getting them ill.
“That exact same night, the feeding bowls for food and water and scratching boards and toys of our basement 4 cats were eliminated. The following early morning, these containers were discovered in the rubbish bin by house cleaning. In the after-effects, a memo was provided last July 24, 2023, mentioning the basement neighborhood cats would be eliminated as soon as possible without assessment or factor to consider for their wellness.
“We immediately confronted the Building Manager that afternoon and got him to retract the Memo. The community cats are safe for now, but we know this won’t last long and that they can be endangered again soon.”
There are presently 23 neighborhood cats expanded throughout the condo towers which Corrine claims is “a very healthy number of community cats living in the premises to protect the premises and its residents from new unvaccinated and unfixed cats, including rodents. Our community cats are all spayed and neutered except for the newly abandoned 3 cats that are still scared and cautious of humans.”
The volunteer group in the hopes of reaching pertinent stakeholders in order to have a discussion that will result in an equally useful service, “one that upholds the welfare of the community cats while addressing residents’ concerns,” they said.
“We hope our story will touch your hearts. It is a testament to the power of compassion and the positive impact we can have when we act together. We stand up for what we believe in to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
(ALSO READ: APPEARANCE: Rescues and Home Cats Were Served a Fancy Feast at this Special Tea Purr-ty)
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