FULL HOUSE: Joanne Hawken with the latest kitten to be dropped off at her Mirrabooka home. Picture: David Quick
CAT lady Joanne Hawken is "eternally grateful" to the Lakes Mail and our readers.
Stories on how she has become the guardian angel to literally thousands of felines over 30 years recently saw locals treat her to an impressive backyard blitz.
Businesses and volunteers pitched in with time, labour and materials to bring her Mirrabooka property up to scratch as a retirement village for about 30 moggies whose owners have either passed on or moved into nursing homes themselves.
But the power of the press can be a double edged sword, Joanne has found.
For along with the good comes the opportunistic.
"People have been turning up on my doorstep at all hours with cats and kittens under their arms," she said.
"They just hand them over and expect me to look after them. They don't even offer a single tin of cat food.
"The other day a guy knock on my door at night with a tiny kitten in his hand. I'd been given the mother cat a few days before because the owners apparently rented a house where no animals were allowed and the real estate agent had an inspection and found them there.
"The kitten had been given away to another home but it was sent back as unwanted. So, where did it go? To me, of course."
On the verge of being eaten out of house and home by the growing numbers of guest cats and with ongoing vet bills to pay, Joanne is beginning to panic.
"I love what I do for these cats and I keep them in comfortable containment so they don't harm native wildlife but I desperately need some practical help in cash, or kind, to help feed them," she said.
¦ Joanne Hawken has launched a special moggy food appeal.
¦ Donations of cash or cat food can be delivered to Morisset vet Neil McGlynn on Freemans Drive, Morisset, or to PO Box 3159, Bonnells Bay.
¦ Can you help? Phone Ms Hawken on 0414 013089 or 4973 5583 to assist.
