Cavan SPCA’s urgent appeal for funds

Animal lovers are being urged to send in their favourite pictures of their pets or any animal pictures – from dogs and puppies, cats and kittens, to donkeys, horses, chickens, ducks, geese, swans, goats, wildlife and everything and anything in between.

The best photographs will be shortlisted for a public vote to choose the cover of this year’s Cavan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CSPCA) 2021 Calendar; while the 12 runners up will be the face of each month in the year. A new Canon digital camera will be presented to the winner, sponsored by The Anglo-Celt.

Laura Reilly from Ballyjamesduff is a volunteer with the CSPCA and she explains why the calendar is more important than ever before.

“We’re raising funds for our important rescue work. The calendar is vital. Since the emergence of Covid in March and the lockdown and restrictions, we have been unable to raise funds.

“Our charity shop on Thomas Ashe Street in Cavan Town was closed and we have been unable to host our annual pub quizzes, dog walks and other fundraising events,” outlined Laura.

The charity shop has recently reopened with the easing of some restrictions but the CSPCA is still playing catch-up in terms of generating funds to pay the bills.

Their costs are in excess of €85,000 every year between veterinary fees (€30K), food (€20K), spaying and neutering (€25K) and other fees and expenses such as travel and phone, insurance, accountants’ fees etc.

The charity sometimes gets government grant aid but is never aware if the allocation will be forthcoming or how much it might be until around December each year.

While the funds stopped coming in during lockdown, the rescue work of the CSPCA continued.

“We still had animals coming into our care who needed veterinary care and needed to be fed,” said Laura.

She said they received many calls during lockdown from people looking for rescue dogs – perhaps because they were “at home more” or out walking in the good weather.

Staff were still limited in terms of how many they could rehome because they couldn’t have people calling to see the dogs and they still needed to properly vet people and ensure they had suitable homes and circumstances for taking on a rescue pet.

“Tina [Boyle] wouldn’t have been able to start rehoming dog until early June,” explained Laura, adding that all the while animals had to be fed.

The CSPCA photo calendar competition is one of the most popular competitions run in The Anglo-Celt every year with hundreds of photos received.

Editor Linda O’Reilly expects it to be more popular than ever this year. “Our Life on Lockdown, Loving Life and Go Wild photo series have proved so popular this year – the year of COVID-19 and lockdown.

“Between the good weather, people working from home and having more free time on their hands, people have been out and about and have taken some wonderful photos. You may already have a photo in mind, or else please take one and email it off within the next week.

“The Anglo-Celt supports the wonderful work done by the Cavan SPCA and it’s clear that Cavan people love their pets. We want to make this the best calendar yet and help generate much-needed funds for this important animal welfare work.”

To enter, see the advert below. The deadline is 12 noon on Wednesday, September 2, and entries are limited to four per person.

Please do not send photos to The Anglo-Celt directly but to the email address on the advert below.

A shortlist of the best entries will be compiled and published in the paper and on our website. Readers will be invited to vote for their favourite through the paper and online – with 50% of the marks assigned from each medium.

The Cavan SPCA calendars will be printed later in the year and available for purchase in the usual outlets for just €7. The charity will not be publishing any new Christmas cards this year as it still has stock left over from 2019.

Happy snapping!