(23 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kotor, Montenegro – 9 October 2024
1. Close of street cat, people smiling in background
2. Stray cat, people walking past
3. SOUNDBITE (English) April King, founder of Kotor Kitties NGO: ++STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT; PARTLY COVERED WITH SHOTS 4-5++
“It was already a cat town, definitely when we came to visit. It was ‘why would we go to Kotor?’ Oh, everybody in the world says, ‘go visit if you like cats.’ So, my friends and I came for two days, and I just wanted to contribute to a spay-neuter program here and discovered that as many cats as there are there was no spay-neuter program. And if you want to address animal welfare of a population this large, you have to start with the basics of trying to get the population under control, so that the resources of the community balance how many cats or dogs are in the community.”
4. Various of stray cats in city center
5. Cats and donated money in box
6. People walking around cats in city center
7. Cats in box
8. SOUNDBITE (English) April King, founder of Kotor Kitties NGO: ++STARTS ON SHOT 5; PARTLY COVERED WITH SHOT 9++
“Many pet owners can’t afford veterinary care and food, and there need to be programs that fill the gap and help them take care of that animal as a family member. And even if you are feeding a community cat outside, people are very attached to them. So if the animal is suffering, usually the caretaker is suffering.”
9. Various of woman feeding cat with syringe
STORYLINE:
A common sight on the streets of Kotor.
Hundreds of cats prowl the picturesque byways of this UNESCO-listed seaside city.
The animals are often fed and cared for by locals, who even let them into their homes during cold winter months.
Cats are a big draw for tourists visiting Kotor.
This place is often called a ‘City of Cats’.
But international visitors have meant a shift in attitudes towards the stray population.
It all started to change six years ago when a self-declared “cat-lady,” an American by the name of April King, decided to spend a few days of her vacation in Kotor, drawn by the promise of a "cat-friendly town."
“It was ‘why would we go to Kotor?’ Oh, everybody in the world says, ‘go visit if you like cats.," recalls King.
"My friends and I came for two days, and I just wanted to contribute to a spay-neuter program here and discovered that as many cats as there are there was no spay-neuter program."
That’s when King decided to start Kotor Kitties – a non-governmental organization registered in Montenegro, the United States, England and Wales committed to “reducing the suffering” of stray cats in Kotor, and elsewhere in the Balkan country.
She believed the best way to fulfil that mission was by establishing a Kotor spay-neuter program.
"If you want to address animal welfare of a population as large, you have to start with the basics of trying to get the population under control, so that the resources of the community balance how many cats or dogs are in the community," says King.
After a slow start, Kotor Kitties has managed to spread the idea of caring for street cats by controlling their numbers and to build a network of friendly vets in Montenegro committed to spaying and neutering the stray felines.
“Many pet owners can’t afford veterinary care and food, and there need to be programs that fill the gap and help them take care of that animal as a family member," says King.
"Even if you are feeding a community cat outside, people are very attached to them, so if the animal is suffering, usually the caretaker is suffering.”
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/f19d311ad2ca4b179302baef28e84252
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in October 28, 2024, 12:04 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
