Cat shelter is celebrating six years with feline friends

Cat shelter is celebrating six years with feline friends

2023-10-23

A cat shelter is celebrating six years of caring for feline friends. Shelter owner Huang Ssu-yu has been rescuing cats since her college days. Now she runs a very tight ship, taking in cats from all walks of life, including some with serious illnesses. But keeping the shelter afloat financially is a constant struggle. The shelter provides a cat café which helps cover some expenses. Taiwan has seen more and more of these private shelters spring up in recent years, as public shelters fail to keep up with the demand for safe homes for abandoned animals.

Shelter owner Huang Ssu-yu only has to bring out a snack and all the cats are on her straight away. She started out rescuing stray cats, and then decided to open this shelter. There are normally 30 cats in this space.

Huang Ssu-yu
Cat shelter founder
We were rescuing cats in university, so after that we decided that if we’re going to rescue them then we should do it properly. So we got lots of training, and then we opened up this shelter. We hope that every cat we give away really finds a wonderful home.

Each cat has its own story. Some are rare breeds, rescued from illegal breeders with wounds. Some hide in the corner, still wary of humans. The shelter’s goal is to make sure the cats get good basic care before they find a new owner.

Huang Ssu-yu
Cat shelter founder
Normally when we get a new cat, first we test it for FIV, leukaemia and feline parvovirus. If it’s OK, everything passed, then we take it in. But after it’s in, we start by watching it carefully. Sometimes we rescue a cat in bad condition. Then the major tests or later treatments it will need are going to cost tens of thousands of dollars. We don’t accept monetary donations, but if you have cat food at home, like tins they don’t want – because cats are picky – then we do accept donations like that.

Taking care of all these little cuties is expensive. Just the food and litter costs Huang NT$20,000-30,000 a month. On top of that is venue rental and the tests and vaccinations for each new arrival. Special medical treatments are always a big expense. The shelter is a cat cafe, which does provide a little financial help. But for Huang, the main thing is that her feline friends can live and grow up in good health.

Huang Ssu-yu
Cat shelter founder
There have been some cats which were in very bad condition when they came, or very aggressive or difficult. And in the end when we gave them away, the owners would later send us such cute photos of them. You see they’re in their new home rolling around on the floor and living a great life. And then you really feel that you accomplished something great.

The shelter has been open six years and has successfully found new homes for more than 400 cats. Huang has stringent rules for adoption, to ensure potential owners will be able to take great care of their new friend. For the cats that land in this shelter, the good days are just beginning.

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公立動物收容塞爆民間中繼站盼為犬貓找主人

2023-10-23

隨著公立動物收容空間的不足，也讓民間的中繼站越來越多，不少有愛心的民眾，會協助短暫收容剛救援來的流浪犬貓，並且尋找合適的長期飼主，但其實像這樣的中繼站，物資需求大，而且犬貓的檢驗、疫苗等費用也不便宜，不過他們最大的心願，是希望這些犬貓能找到願意善待牠們的飼主。

愛媽才剛拿出小點心，小貓們立刻蜂擁而上，等著享用美食，黃小姐過去因為救援流浪貓，進而成立浪貓中繼站，光這個空間，平常飼養了30隻貓。

[[浪貓中繼站愛媽黃思瑜]]
“因為我們以前大學就在救貓，所以我們後面就決定說，既然要救，我們就把它做得完善一點，所以就是也是考了很多證照，然後之後就開始把這間店開起來，希望每一隻送出去的貓，都真的找到一個很好的歸屬”

每一隻貓都有著自己的故事，有剛從非法飼育場救援出來的品種貓，身上還帶著傷口，還有的躲在角落對人類抱有戒心，中繼站的目的，就是要讓這些被救援的貓隻，在找到飼主前，可以獲得基本照顧。

[[浪貓中繼站愛媽黃思瑜]]
“通常貓咪接到手，會先做愛滋、白血、貓瘟的檢查，然後確定都OK，就是都過關之後才會收容進來，但是在進來之後還是會先看看，有時候可能會救到一些狀況不好的貓，或狀況很差的貓，那相對的整個大檢查做下來，甚至到後面醫療都是要幾萬幾萬的。我們不收捐款，但是如果說你們家裡面，有一些貓咪不想吃，因為貓咪挑食嘛，不想吃的飼料、罐頭，這些我們都還是會收”

只是這麼多小可愛，每個月光是基本的飼料、貓砂等，黃小姐就得花上兩三萬元，還沒算進場地租金以及收容貓隻時，每一隻都要做檢驗、打疫苗的費用，如果有特殊醫療需求，每次都是昂貴開銷，把這個空間變成貓咖啡廳，只能算是不無小補，但對黃小姐來說，更重要的是看見這些喵星人，健康長大。

[[浪貓中繼站愛媽黃思瑜]]
“其實有一些，真的剛一開始狀況來說很差，或是很兇很壞，然後結果後面就是送出去之後，因為領養人有時候會拍一些，他們可愛的照片回來，你就看他們在人家新家，就翻滾然後過得很爽，你就覺得說真的是，自己做了一件蠻不錯的事情”

經營六年，送養超過400隻貓，黃小姐也有一套收養規範，確保新飼主能好好善待牠們，在新的家庭找到屬於牠們的未來。

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The tufting teacher explains how you must ensure the yarn is properly threaded before starting work.

The tufting gun moves slowly through the fabric, leaving its track visible, but it’s no simple task to control its force and keep the gun stable.

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The rug is dried and then cut out and trimmed, and the piece is complete! Store owner Hans was born in 1997, and his first job was street performance.

You might have seen him bringing the house down with tricks like this in Xinyi District. But in May 2022, the pandemic hit performers hard, and Hans was left with no income, which led him to get into tufting.

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I love handicrafts and making things with my hands, myself, so I thought I’d bring this thing which I saw abroad to Taiwan and give it a try. More and more people asked me about it, so I thought I’d try opening a store. There were lots of designs that we wanted to try out and we developed, and that was quite hard work. So that slowed us down a lot at first.

After many months setting up, Hans and his team finally opened Taiwan’s first tufting store. They stock more than 50 different yarn colors. The new craft has gained popularity as a soothing and relaxing hobby during and since the pandemic.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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