Welcome to the website of Catsnip

Catsnip was set up in 2002 following the discovery that the Sicilian method of controlling the population of feral cats in the mistaken belief this would ‘solve’ the problem was by killing them.

With funding raised from organisations and individuals, Catsnip makes several catch/neuter/return trips in Sicily with vets from America, Germany and the UK. The organisation is now eight years old and entering a new phase. This will involve working at a slower but I believe, more productive pace, over the year rather than just a week or two. I am also planning educational trips with a British vet to teach local Sicilian vets modern ways of neutering.

Catsnip has several main aims:

• To pursue a catch/neuter/return programme of feral cats in Sicily on a longer term to alter the mindset of local people particularly young people.
• To attempt to persuade them to see animals as sentient beings capable of the same feelings as human beings and also with needs and rights which should be respected particularly because they cannot speak for themselves.
• To gain permission to take vets to Sicily on an official basis for catch/neuter/return sessions.
• To address the running of kennels and catteries in tourist areas, where animals live in atrocious conditions.