This Sunday, the Kryšpín charity association, which assists 13 private cat shelters across Moravia with a total of over 1,200 homeless cats, is organising a charity bazaar and fun day at Šelepka in Kralovo pole. The event will raise money for the region’s most vulnerable cats, while also marking International Cat Day, celebrated around the world today, 8 August.
Sunday’s cat-filled festivities will include a charity bazaar, where visitors can help cats by shopping for both human and cat products, new and second-hand, including donated goods and hand-made products from volunteers, with all proceeds going to help cats in shelters.
This year, the bazaar will again be complemented by a cat counselling centre, and two new exhibitions: Kateřina Dubovcová will present her cat collages, and Romana Štryncl his painted canvases of cats.
International Cat Day was established in 2002 and is celebrated worldwide today, 8 August. “In Brno, we have been celebrating this world holiday for the fourth year by helping cats in shelters. This year we are celebrating on 11 August, and for the second time the well-known Šelepka Club in Brno offered us their facilities, for which we are very grateful,” explained organiser Lenka Němcová.
A large majority of cat shelters in the Czech Republic are private and run by volunteers, filling in for the almost non-existent municipal cat facilities. Without volunteer associations and their generous donors, thousands of cats would be without any help at all.
“It’s surprising, because there are many times more abandoned cats than dogs, and they continue to multiply outside,” said Němcová. “The official capacity of the Regional Veterinary Administration of registered South Moravian shelters is 1,477 cats as of today. However, the majority of those places, 1,286, are offered by volunteers in cat associations without state aid.”
The Kryšpín cat charity association helps 13 private Moravian shelters by raising money for their operations, which this year alone have helped a burned kitten with a broken tail, a cat with its hind legs amputated, and another which had been shot, with three bullet shells in the eye area, among thousands of other cases.
Sunday’s event is entirely free for lovers of cats or bazaars or both, and will run from 10am until 6pm at Šelepka Club, Šelepova 1, Brno-Kralovo pole.
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The Kryšpín association was founded in Brno during the Covid pandemic, and currently supports 13 Moravian cat shelters, via public fundraising, charity auctions and benefit events. The organisation is seeking 834 regular donors to give 100 crowns per month to cover the costs of these shelters; they currently have 404, though many of these donate more than that.
Kryšpín’s transparent account number is 2501927911/2010.
