Our history ...

How Twinkle Trust Animal Aid Began

In April 1995 my boyfriend and I first visited Fuerteventura for a one week holiday. Little did I know at that time how my life was about to change forever. Throughout the week we witnessed countless cats and kittens dying in the grounds of the holiday apartments, most of them looked as though they were suffering from cat- ‘flu' and many of the kittens had such badly infected eyes they could not open them.

At first we tried to help by putting down some food each day and washing the kitten eye's, so at least they could see but each day we found more and more in need of help. We knew without veterinary treatment many of them were going to die.

We tried in vain to make it down to the beach or to the car and carry on with our holiday but in the end it was impossible to pretend that this was anything ‘but' a holiday. I felt so helpless and desperate. I was only able to give them temporary relief and knew as soon as we returned home many would be left to suffer alone.

When it was time for us to leave the apartment and fly back to England, we were both overwhelmed with sadness at the thought of leaving so many sick cats and kittens. As we boarded our return flight home, I made a promise to the cats that I would not forget them and would come back.

Once back home I would spend my lunch breaks at work, trying to contact as many animal welfare groups as I could find to see if they could or would go and help these poor Fuerteventurian cats. I was getting more and more desperate after each organisation I contacted said they same thing ‘they did not have the funds of the staff to help'.

So one month after returning home we went back to Fuerteventura to bring home a little black female cat that we just could not forget about, whom we had called Twinkle. As soon as we arrived we went back to the complex where she lived and we found her lying at the bottom of tree, trying to take shade from the blazing sun. Sadly since we had left she had caught cat- ‘flu' and despite spending four days in the local vet's, she died. The day after her death, I approached the complex owner and asked what was being done about the cat situation, I was horrified when he explained their inhumane methods for controlling the cat population but I was grateful for his honesty, it made me even more determined to help all the cats that I had to leave behind.

As nobody else was able or prepared to carry out humane cat control, I took it upon myself to find some volunteer vets and helpers and raise the money for a cat sterilising trip if the complex owner would help me get permission. The owner not only helped me gain permission from the local authorities in Fuerteventura but he also offered us free use of some accommodation and a place to carry out the operations.

By the end of our second heartbreaking visit to Fuerteventura we decided to bring home another little black cat that we had grown to love and a five week old kitten that had been brought into our apartment by a member of the complex staff after she had heard that Twinkle had died. Nothing could replace Twinkle but as we still had all the necessary quarantine paperwork it seemed the least we could do was to try and give these two little orphans a chance. But, as if life hadn't been cruel enough our second little black cat died just three days after being released from quarantine, this was due to an ear infection that she developed during her six months quarantine. We had called our second black cat Twinkle because they were so alike in every way. It is in memory of our two Twinkle cats that we called our little charity Twinkle Trust Animal Aid.

What We Have Achieved So Far

Twinkle has been working in Fuerteventura since 1995 and charity registered in the UK since March 2002. Since starting our work on the island the health, condition and number of the cat population has improved. We try to carry out our work in as many locations of the island as possible. In the areas that we work the cats are no longer destroyed or removed by the complex management and as a result of Twinkle's work, some of the complexes have installed Cat Cafés. These are great because as well as providing a stable supply of food for the homeless cats, they also solve many problems. The cat-lovers have somewhere to feed the cats and the cat-haters should have less to complain about as the cats will not try and enter their holiday apartments looking for food.

We visit the island twice a year and carry out our stray and abandoned cat sterilising scheme. This is to maintain a manageable cat population and to ensure the cats are as healthy as possible.

All of this has only been possible thanks to the wonderful team of people that volunteer and help in a million different ways. I could not and would not have been able to have made such a difference to so many lives alone.

What We Want To Happen

The long-term goals are to coach and involve the local people in our scheme, so that one-day we can all work together to improve the life and conditions of our feral friends. It would be great if one day we could afford to build and run our own cat rescue/re-homing centre in Fuerteventura.

 

Written by

Jenny Billimore