Introducing “Les Chats du Mercantour” - A Non-Profit Association Dedicated to Helping Stray and Feral Cats in La Haute Tinée.

“Les Chats du Mercantour” was founded in 2006 by Leslie Frasier, an American, living in La Haute Tinée.

Back in Texas in the 1980’s, Leslie was involved with The Humane Society and worked as a technician in a veterinary clinic which specialised in feline care.  She arrived in France in 1995, and moved to St. Etienne in La Haute Tinée in 2005. 

One day, a pregnant cat in a local restaurant caught her eye.

“She was a young cat, only about 18 months old,” Leslie explains (photo on right with "Rocky").  “She was nursing a litter of kittens, but was already pregnant again - it turned out this was her fifth pregnancy.”

Noticing the large stray cat population in the area, Leslie realised the cat in the restaurant was far from an isolated case and she decided to take some action.  She set up her association, “Les Chats du Mercantour”, with the aim of capturing stray cats, organising their sterilisation and also reducing the stray cat population through adoption.

To date, her association has captured and arranged for the sterilisation of 120 cats, including around 50 kittens, the majority of which have since been re-homed.  If the kittens are too young to be sterilised when captured, Leslie makes a point of contacting their adoptive owners in order to ensure it gets done when the kittens are old enough. 

Why sterilise these animals?

That’s a question Leslie gets asked a lot.  The simple answer is that cats reproduce at an alarming rate: they can produce several litters of kittens per year and those kittens mature quickly.  Statistics show that, even allowing for a reduced survival rate in stray cat populations, two feral cats and their offspring can, between them, produce a staggering 2,200 kittens in as little as three years. 

Sterilising the animals helps to keep stray colonies healthy, since unsterilised animals run a far higher risk of contracting potentially fatal sexually-transmitted feline diseases. 

There is also the public nuisance aspect to be considered.  Unneuteured cats are a rowdy bunch: “toms” (males) get into the feline equivalent of highly-vocal barroom brawls, which can be heard miles away and “queens” (females) yowl loudly and incessantly, as they advertise their fecundity.  Sterilisation resolves these issues and also puts a stop to unpleasant odours produced by unneuteured toms spraying their acrid-smelling urine around. 

Changing ingrained attitudes

Somewhat surprisingly in this day and age, many people still allow their cats to have unchecked, multiple pregnancies.  Their solution to ridding themselves of the constant stream of unwanted kittens is to drown them.  When confronted with stray cats, other people are just as inclined to reach for their shotguns or a box of poison, rather than go to the bother of calling in outside help.

Getting her message across and trying to change these ingrained attitudes has turned out to be as tough a battle for Leslie as looking after the cats, but it is a battle which can be particularly rewarding; as in the case of one local resident who had five cats, all of them unsterilised, until Leslie came along.

“This guy lives up in the mountains and was very dubious in the beginning,” Leslie explains.  “He couldn’t understand why I was suggesting he should have his cats sterilised; why it was important.  It took a while, but he eventually came around to the idea and agreed to have all five of his cats sterilised. 

"Best of all, he’s since started to spread the word among his friends and neighbours and has been encouraging them to get their cats sterilised too, so there’s been a complete turnaround in his attitude.  It’s incredibly satisfying when that happens.”

In January 1999, new legislature was introduced in France which recognised the work carried out by cat protection associations and gave local authorities the go ahead to work with them, putting capture and sterilisation programmes into effect.  La Mairie de Saint Etienne de Tinée has adopted this approach and although Leslie’s association has thus far ended up footing the majority of the €12,000 bill for the sterilisation of local cats, she is hopeful that La Mairie and the Conseil Général will agree to commit a larger budget to the programme in future.

How can we help?

Leslie not only organises and funds the capture and sterilisation programmes, she also takes the cats suitable for adoption under her wing in order to set about re-homing as many as possible.  All the cats which Leslie puts up for adoption have been wormed and tested negative for the principal feline diseases.

“Les Chats du Mercantour” is entirely dependent upon donations to continue its work.  Donations go towards paying for veterinary treatment and also help Leslie provide food, transport, bedding materials, traps, cages and medicines for the cats.  Leslie is always on the lookout for donated cages, cat litter, wooden shelters, cat-trees, warm blankets - anything which would be useful to give her cats a bit more comfort. 

She would also welcome volunteers who would be willing to join her small team of dedicated helpers to assist in catching or transporting the cats or who would be willing to foster a cat or kittens until a permanent home can be found for them. 

Finally, if you know of stray or feral cats in La Haute Tinée area, Leslie would appreciate it if you would get in touch with her.

For more information, have a look at the website: http://leschatsdumercantour.monsite.orange.fr
or give Leslie a call on 04.93.02.33.41 or 06.18.94.35.76

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