Click here for more details and to register.
You are already familiar with our, now, bi-monthly photo competition. This time, we have decided to twist it a little and make it a video competition. It is a fun way to support the work we do and help us to raise much needed funds. The entry to the competition is €3, which will help us to look after our feline friends. As you may have guessed, the subject of the video must be an animal, but not necessarily a cat, as we love all animals! It can be funny, cute, touching, but must be respectful.
Please, read carefully the instructions below to submit your video.
How does it work?
Firstly, you need to buy one or more entries online (make sure you write down the reference number). You can submit photos until the 25th of May. We keep record of all entries, so if you have bought more than one, you do not have to use them all in one go.
Once you have bought your entry, you need to upload your video (not longer than 2 minutes) on YouTube with the title “Community Cats Network Video Competition: title of video“. This will avoid using other people’s videos. Make sure the video is posted as public.
Next, you need to send your reference number, your name, the title of your video and the link to the video.
We will still use Facebook for the voting and will post up a photo of the video link, with the actual link in the comment section. Your friends and our followers can then vote for it until the 31st of May at midnight by liking the photo of the link on Facebook. The four videos with the most votes will be shortlisted and sent to a judging panel who will consider both content and quality of the videos to make the final decision. The winner will then be announced here and on Facebook.
Click to buy your entry
You can buy more than one entry from our Ecwid shop (using Paypal secure payment). Alternatively, you can buy entries by making a bank transfer; make sure that you enter the following reference: “photo + your name” (Name of account: Community Cats Network; Bank: Permanent TSB, North Main Street, Cork; Sort code: 99 07 07; Account number: 20668352). You can also pay via Paypal by using the link on the left (only one entry at a time).
Terms and Conditions
Only videos with a valid reference number will be accepted.
You must be the author of the video in order to submit it. Community Cats Network cannot be held responsible for any copyright infringement and any video not submitted by the author will be immediately removed from the competition (entry fees will not be refunded).
The video must be of an animal and not longer than two minutes.
Videos showing cruelty or being disrespectful will not be accepted (entry fees will not be refunded). We will not accept either videos that do not respect YouTube community guidelines.
As the owner of the video, you take entire responsibility for posting it and Community Cats Network cannot be help responsible in any case of dispute.
The prize
We have a double prize for this month. One is a 8X10 signed print by local artist Mark E. Bailey and the other is a handcrafted cat brooch from Ruby Robin Boutique.
We would like to thank both sponsors for their support!
Posted in Photo Competition
Tagged animal photos, Animal videos, Fundraising, pet photos, photo-competition
A photo, a comment, a thought, a story that we have come across during our TNRs to brighten your Monday 
Heard from a farmer talking about the feral cats he feeds…
“I may be just a farmer, but I don’t like to see them suffer.”
A photo, a comment, a thought, a story that we have come across during our TNRs to brighten your Monday
As we’re dealing with feral cats, we rarely get to interact with them. They usually run away as fast and as far from us as possible when they are released. However, every so often, one will stop and turn around as if to say “Thank you!”
On the way to freedom and to a new happier life
Sorry about the lateness of this post. April was a busy month and we only just got around to choose the winner for the latest photo competition.
After much debating, the jury has finally settled on the winning photo for the February-March competition. We are delighted to announce that the winner is Anita Walsh.
“Ted & Maisie” by Anita Walsh
Anita wins a necklace and earrings set from Rainbow Gem Jewellery. Congratulations Anita!
We’d like to thank all those who took part in the competition. By entering this competition, you are also helping to raise funds to continue our mission of neutering cats in county Cork.
For the April-May competition, we have added a little twist as it is a video competition! Please check this link to see how to enter.
“The kittens never live long down here by the lake. When the Atlantic sweeps in it would put a chill down the spine of a grown man, never mind a little kitten…”
This is just a snippet of a conversation I had with an islander about his cats. Michael is the kind of man who likes to let the world get on with what it has to do. He does not believe in such things as computers, Facebook or even television. His life, to those who live in the outside world, is lonely and difficult; for he lives on an island on his own and with none of the modern technologies we have at our fingertips.
Michael’s Love
The slow burning range in his sparsely furnished kitchen radiates with heat as from a smouldering volcano. He has a comfortable fireside chair and his table is piled high with books. He is an avid reader of detective novels and spends most of his time reading . He is accompanied in his kitchen by the love of his life. She’s pretty and slender with startling green eyes. She arrived at his door many years ago on a cold winter’s night. He invited her in to warm herself to the fire… She fell in love and never left Michael’s side. They spent many a happy day and night together. Michael had someone to share his hopes, his dreams and his disappointments with, and she never judged him or asked him for anything.
A few of the cats
Then Michael started to develop a few health problems and had to leave the island for a serious operation on the mainland. He was gone for a few months and when he returned the love of his life had given birth to a little family. Michael was devastated; his love did not recognise him anymore and was now mother to an unruly brood of her own near his house. Night after night Michael would call to her but she would not come to him. He left his door, and his heart, open for her to return… but she never came. The love of his life went on to establish a dynasty. She gathered waifs and strays, orphans and foundlings, to herself, displaying the same love as Michael showed to her. Through the years Michael saw her family grow while he maintained a lonely guardianship in the background.
Years later, the relationship between Michael and the love of his life started to get better. She is older now and tired. She still comes into his kitchen to warm herself by the fire. All her family join her and Michael loves and cares for them all. His great love still has shiny green eyes but they are beginning to dim with the pain of the passing years and the heavy burden she has borne. Season upon season, year following year, his love has given birth to more and more kittens. Michael does not know how many cats he really has… Maybe 20. Maybe 30. Perhaps even more than that.
Michael is now in his eighties and has only recently built a cat flap in his front door so that his children can enter at will for the food, warmth and comfort they find in this old man’s home. When I last met Michael, his Love was sitting on the fireside chair alongside him. An old man and an elderly lady entwined by the glow of a fire and the passing years of love.
We are going to Cape Clear again for 5 days of intensive trapping. Tom Farrington, vet in Rosscarberry, and Lesley Stinson, registered vet nurse, will arrive on Friday morning’s ferry to neuter and spay the cats. As you know by now this is a very expensive operation. Tom and Lesley have kindly donated their time and expertise to come and help us to create “Ireland’s First ‘Neutered’ Island”. Please help us to raise the funds needed by donating what you can (click here to access our Paypal link designated to the Cape Clear fund or you can visit our donation page for more options). Thanks for your support!
We would like to thank once more Mary O’Driscoll for sponsoring our accommodation on the island in one of the cottages and all the other islanders who are being so helpful: Seamus and the lads from Cape Clear Ferry, Duncan for lending us a car, Fiona for lending us her shed and all the others…
To read the beginning of our adventures on Cape Clear, click here. To view the full photo album of ths fourth part of the project, click here.
Rifa: spanglish. Literally means “raffle”, but used as saying a certin gang or area is “the baddest” or “untouchable”. Mexican slang. (Urban Dictionary).
To mark our 1st birthday, we are having a rifa! So wish a happy birthday to all the community cats in Cork and get your ticket now! The draw will take place at our birthday fiesta in Sober Lane on the 25th of April (more details here).
Tickets will be on sale at the party, but if you cannot come, you can also buy them online. They are €2 for a strip, €5 for 3 strips or €10 for 7 strips. Just click on the photo below and enter the amount of your choice. A photo of your tickets will be sent to you before the party.
Prizes include a voucher from Tattoo Zoo, a Gangnam style tee-shirt donated by Dot.Cotton, a bottle of something nice donated by Sober Lane, a cat pendant donated by Ruby Robin Boutique, a luscious bath set, a voucher for Tony’s Bistro, a bowling voucher at Leisureplex, a goodies bag donated by Maher Sports, a tanning voucher from The Tanning Shop, a silver frame donated by Roman House and an ethnic handbag.
We would like to thank all the businesses and supporters who kindly donated prizes.
Every month, Community Cats Network offers a new item for auction in order to help us to raise funds to continue our mission of neutering stray and feral cats. The auction takes place on our Facebook page and bidding ends at midnight on the 15th of the month. It is open to all; however, we may ask for postage when posting abroad.
This month, we have a print by a young Dublin artist, Sarah McCarthy. The print is of one of her own sculptures and signed by the artist. To take part in the auction, visit this link and place your bid under the photo.
Posted in Fun(d)raising, Online Auction
Tagged Auction, Community Cats Network, Feral cats, Fundraising, Funds for cats
At the end of April, we will turn one year old (already!), so grab your sombrero and join us in Sober Lane at 8pm to celebrate Mexican style!
We have plenty of surprises in store for you…
The party will begin with a Chilli Eating Contest (we would like to thank Khan Spices of North Main Street and Southern Fruit in Togher for sponsoring the chillies). At 8.30pm, our 50 contestants will sit down and go through 5 rounds bringing them to new levels of heat. Whether you want to take the challenge or just watch the pain on their face, you can’t miss it!
You think you can do it? Then, we want you there!
There are only 50 places, so hurry up! You can register by calling in to Sober Lane, where the staff will take your registration, or by downloading the registration form (CCN_Chilli_Disclaimer form_Registration_Final), filling it with your initials on the first page and your full details on the 2nd, and returning it with your €5 fee to Community Cats Network, PO Box 50, Midleton Delivery Services Unit, Ballinacurra Business Park, Midleton, Co Cork.
Our winner will receive a magnificient trophy sponsored by Gerald McCarthy Gifts and Awards. The 2nd nd 3rd place will get a certificate. All three runner-ups will get lovely prizes. Every contestant will also receive a souvenir badge of the night to prove their bravado!
Our Facebook event will be updated on a daily basis to give you tips to learn the tricks of the trade.
Don’t worry if you’re not brave enough to enter the Chilli Eating Contest, you can still come along and have fun!
We will treat you with delicious food served to the sound of Mexican music. There will be a guessing competition for all to enter (no, we won’t tell you what you will have to guess!). We will also hold a fantastic rifa (Urban Dictionary: spanglish. literally means “raffle”. but used as saying a certain gang or area is “the baddest” or “untouchable”. mexican slang.) with prizes for all to enjoy! If you cannot come to the party, you can still take part to the rifa by buying your tickets online and make this birthday a special one for all the feral cats in Cork (see here for more details).
And for all of you Facebook addicts, we also have a sharing competition on our page. You could win a dinner voucher for two at Very Healthy Food (Douglas Street, Cork).
We would like to thank Colm and his staff at Sober Lane for hosting the event and offering great feedback, Gerald McCarthy Gifts and Awards for sopnsoring the trophies, Zia of Khan Spices (North Main St, Cork) and Jim of Southern Fruit for sponsoring the chillies and all the businesses that sponsored prizes for the night.
A massive thank you goes out to all our supporters who have followed us along the road to help the feral cats in Cork county. Thanks to your support, we can change their lives, so here’s to the 2nd year!
Posted in Fun(d)raising, News
Tagged animal welfare, Cats, Chilli Eating Contest, Community Cats Network, Cork, Fundraiser, Mexican party, Sober Lane Cork
Every month, Community Cats Network offers a new item for auction in order to help us to raise funds to help us to continue our mission of neutering stray and feral cats. The auction takes place on our Facebook page and bidding ends at midnight on the 15th of the month.
This month, we have a shimmering handcrafted necklace, bracelet and earrings set donated by one of our supporters. To take part in the auction, visit this link and place your bid under the photo.
Close-up of the earrings:
Close-up of the necklace:
Posted in Fun(d)raising
Tagged Auction, Community Cats Network, Feral cats, Fundraising, Funds for cats
