<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><div>A resourceful vet in Portugal has found a rather unique way to help house the stray felines in her local town. Rub-a-dub-dub, it's time for Caturday.</div><div><br></div>Courtesy of the <i>BBC</i> (London, England) at:</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-46031042?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark">https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-46031042?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark</a><br><div><br></div><div>——————————————-</div><div><br></div><div><div><h2 class="unit__title" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.11111; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span class="cta" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.16667; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stray cats housed in washing machines in Portuguese town</span></h2></div><div><br></div><div>Ana Silva, the vet in Monchique, a picturesque town in the mountains of southern Portugal, was so concerned at the numbers and poor condition of street cats that she set up the Aqui Há Gato (Here is a Cat) project to provide them with care and shelter, the Correio da Manhã daily reports.</div><div><br></div><div>The brainwave came when she treated two kittens in her practice and they made straight for a faulty washing machine awaiting collection in her yard. "So I put in some blankets, and they've never left," she told the paper.</div><div><br></div><div>The local council gave her its backing, and is placing the appliances around town, once school students and a local graffiti artist have transformed the potential eyesores into street art.</div><div>i</div><div>The washing-machines are not only comfortable, with "rooftop terraces" for the cats to bask in the sun, but also serve a practical purpose.</div><div><br></div><div>They keep the strays out of garden sheds and back yards, as they provide an even temperature in Monchique's cold winters and hot summers.</div><div><br></div><div>They also make it much easier for the vet to care for the cats - she managed to sterilise 50 of them in one week this month, she told Correio da Manhã.</div><div><h2 class="story-body__crosshead" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(30, 30, 30); font-family: Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.5rem; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.16667; margin: 32px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">‘Cat mansions'</h2></div><div><br></div><div>Not everyone in Monchique has welcomed the "cat mansions", which number five so far.</div><div><br></div><div>"There are people who are less keen on animals, but they are balanced by the people who do," Dr Silva told Lusa news agency , adding that the school has led the way by caring for a stray in its own broken washing machine.</div><div><br></div><div>"It serves a useful teaching purpose, so children can see that cats aren't harmful, and parents have even joined in decorating the machine," she says.</div><div><br></div><div>Now that Dr Silva's campaign has caught the attention of the national press, she hopes to extend it to the rest of the country.</div><div><br></div><div>To this end she says all old washing machines and dryers will get a "warm welcome" in Monchique.</div></div><div><br></div><div>——————</div><div><br></div><div>Photos . . .</div><div><br></div><div>Cats everywhere enjoy sleeping on - and sometimes in - washing machines, so a resourceful vet in Portugal is using these kitchen appliances to house the stray cats of her home town.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110318_01.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110318_01.jpg</a></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110318_02.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110318_02.jpg</a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110318_03.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_110318_03.jpg</a></div><div><br></div><div>——————————————-<br><br><div id="AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>