Cats Protection Homing Shows - Essex

[Ken Crabshaw v2.0]

Folks,

Basildon, Brentwood and District branch of CP now hold a homing show on the first saturday of every month at:

THE YOUTH HALL,
MARKHAMS CHASE CENTRE, MARKHAMS CHASE,

BASILDON SS15

From 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

[smudgley]

Hello Paul. Good to see you, you've not been around for a while.

What happens at the homing shows, I've seen them advertised lots, & wondered how they work.

Kelly.

Edit to add ~ I'm another CP-er.

[dinahsmum]

I'd like to know how the shows work too (but don't think I'll be trailing to Essex...... just dutifully attend the summer & winter fundraisers)

[Ken Crabshaw v2.0]

Originally Posted by smudgley

Hello Paul. Good to see you, you've not been around for a while.

What happens at the homing shows, I've seen them advertised lots, & wondered how they work.

Kelly.

Edit to add ~ I'm another CP-er.

Hello - yes, long time, no post. I'll try to post a bit more in future.

Homing shows - well, basically we have a hall hired once a month. We set up a large number of display pens around the hall and each contains one or more cats or kittens, with a write-up attached and the details of which fosterer to talk to.

When people arrive they fill in a small questionnaire and based on the results a CP reviewer recommends what would be most suitable for them and adds that to the form (Older cat, kitten, 2 kittens or whatever), then the person is free to wander around the hall and look at the cats on display, and talk to the fosterers.

If they find a suitable cat/kitten then a homing visit is arranged (we usually have people on standby to do visits on the day). Subject to passing the homing visit and making an appropriate donation the person can either take the cats away or arrange to collect them at a later date. There is a follow-up visit a few weeks later to ensure the cat has bedded in ok.

After the doors close comes the bit people don't think about - the clearing up, loading the pens into the van and dividing up all the tasks that need doing - washing litter trays, food bowls, water bowls, disposal of used litter, cleaning sheets and towels etc...

After the show finishes we may well spend the rest of the weekend doing the deferred homing visits, dropping cats off or having them collected, moving the remaining cats between fosterers to rationalise where they are and bringing new cats into the branch from our waiting list.

It sounds pretty horriible when I write it down like that, but it's very satisfying in reality. The worst bit can be some of the people you have to deal with - they can be quite unpleasant if they can't have the cat they want for some reason...!