Dear Cat Lovers

No doubt you have heard about the mass slaughtering of feral cats which
is being effected all over Israel at present as a result of an outbreak of
rabies in the Sharon area. In most cases, the rabies has come as a result
of negligence on the part of the authorities over the past years, and
especially as a result of the lack of implementation of suitable
preventatives, (for example - oral vaccination of wild animals, a
stipulation that all house pets must be vaccinated against rabies, and
charging a reasonable and realistic price for such a vaccine). This
brutal slaughtering of cats is ineffective in the battle to prevent the rabies
spreading. It can be seen as a scapegoat to cover up the Veterinary
Services' great failure to totally contain rabies. On the Veterinary
Services' webpage, in this updated sheet, it can be clearly seen that
cats are in fact not the transmitters of rabies. To view statistics proving
that the cat is not a rabies vector in Israel please follow links below. Link
to map of confirmed rabies cases in Israel by species for 2004: (please
note: links to maps for previous years are at the bottom of the page)

 http://agri3.huji.ac.il/~yakobson/rabheb/mapa2004.html
Link to article entitled An Epidemiological retrospective study of rabies diagnosis and control in Israel 1948-1997

 http://www.isrvma.org/archives/53_4/rab_epidem.htm
For Hebrew readers

additional statistics are available at:
 http://agri3.huji.ac.il/~yakobson/rabheb/

Again and again, we see that the Veterinary Service show hatred of street cats and use all means to find excuses for their extermination.

Sadly, these days cats are dying in pain and suffering from the poison
spread by the Veterinary Services in the "Neve Itamar" neighborhood
(visit our webpage for an update:  http://www.cats.org.il/index.php) Also, in
Kfar-Saba, cats are being captured and exterminated which is occurring
despite an agreement reached with the local Veterinary Services that
street cats would be captured and taken to a shelter for humane quarantine.

Tough sights and updates reach us endlessly from our operatives in the
field. It is so difficult to deal with the harsh images of dying cats,
but we must remember that this issue - the poisoning of innocent street
cats - is a window of opportunity for us to prove to the public in Israel that
we will not abandon these creatures, and that we will revolt in our
endeavours to rescue them from their current fate..

A two-minute movie is attached. This was filmed by a private investigator
hired by the Society, and documents the cruel death of a sweet and
nurtured cat during a horrific poisoning which took place about three weeks ago in "Givat Ada".

click to view the movie http:
 http://www.cats.org.il/images/engsmall.mpeg

Please take two minutes of your time to view this movie. It is not
pleasant, but nothing compared to the suffering of that poor sweetie, and
an example of what other cats who are being poisoned these days go
through.. Remember that the fight against the well-oiled killing machine
of the Veterinary Services will be hard and might take months! We beg of you
not to break, but to endure along with us, and we will not surrender! Let
us recall this sweet gray cat and persist in our protest. Let us organize
donations to the Society to enable us to protest and persist in your
name.
The Cat Welfare Society will stand in the front line, but only with the
support of all you cat-lovers can we win these endeavours.

What must we do?

Donate.
The creation of a media echo and the ongoing public struggle will
cost a lot of money which we do not have at present. Please arrange a
monthly donation for the funding of the process as well as the
continuation of the society's various activities.

For donations, dial [+972]058-392922.

You can also donate through our website
 http://www.cats.org.il/indexa.php?id=3 or at  http://www.israelcatrescue.com

Sign the Petition Supporting the Struggle.
 http://www.cats.org.il/index.php?id=141

Write Protest Letter and Apply Constant Pressure on the Authorities.
 http://www.cats.org.il/index.php?id=129

We must apply pressure on the Veterinary Services.

A united community has the power to do so.