A girl can never have too many handbags or pairs of black shoes. Can she have too many cats?
Not according to Leslie Frasier, the dynamic founder of Les Chats du Mercantour Association.

In my first article, I mentioned how Leslie is pioneering the idea of having all stray cats sterilised. This may seem a radical concept but considering that two feral cats and their offspring can produce over 2,000 kittens between them over two years, it makes a lot of sense.

Having been invited to go visit Leslie in her pretty little village of St Etienne de Tinee, Anna & I took the scenic route last week to see for ourselves how the rescued cats were faring and what developments there have been in Leslie’s revolutionary idea of having a custom built cat sanctuary on a Grange.

Having heard from Leslie that she was up to her ears in kittens, I had to make Anna responsible for not letting me smuggle any cute little kittens home. As it happens, Leslie only had two tiny furry residents, having been able to place all the other kittens in foster homes. We met Nikki, a little bundle of mischief creating her own fun with the study rug and Midnight, a tiny black feral kitten who needs to be kept in a cage until socialized. All the cats rescued by Leslie are feral, frightened and unsure of humans.

Some, however, become acclimatised and are wonderful house pets. I know as I have two of them Charlie & Lola were abandoned on a campsite and almost became stray village cats. Now they have left all that behind and enjoy the high life in a sixth floor penthouse.

Leslie is brimming over with energy and enthusiasm and as she showed us around her home and garden, Anna and I played ‘spot the cat’. There were quite a few cunningly camouflaged under tables, trees, garden furniture etc, all relaxing in the glorious sunshine. All are aptly named, the roughie toughie males are Rocky, Bruiser and Bruiser 2, whereas the delicate sister cats are Flower and Clover. Officially Leslie has six cats living with her, but has regular visitors of twelve to fifteen cats dropping by for food.

CLOVER sleeping peacefully.

If cats are great stress relievers, Leslie should be completely chilled, but the Association’s work is endless. We met her secretary and one of the helpers who assists with the catching of the cats to be sterilised and who also fosters them. Since 2006 Leslie has captured, sterilised and released or placed in homes, over 300 hundred cats. This is an incredible number as the whole process is not easy. It’s an uphill struggle for Leslie to persuade farmers and villagers that it is in their best interest and, more importantly, the cats to be taken to a vet and neutered. Once she finds there are some cats, Leslie has to set traps to capture the cats for transportation. She has purpose built cages for this and what should be a simple matter of enticing the cats into the cage with food, is not, as the villagers prefer to feed the cats anywhere except in the cage. Once caught, Leslie and her helpers take them to a vet. After the operation and recovery the cats are returned to exactly where they came from.

Leslie's passion for cats and their wellbeing is catching, as Anna & I sat listening at lunch, we realised the amount of commitment, time and money Leslie is putting into this excellent project.  As well as the day to day running of the Association, Leslie is forwarding her ambitious plans for a cat sanctuary. For this, she has bought a grange and Anna & I were thrilled to go and see the land after lunch.

LESLIE  makes Orange Wine to sell to raise money for her sanctuary.

Read more in the next installment of Les Chats Du Mercantour.

For more information, donnations or to help out, check the website.

http://leschatsdumercantour.monsite.orange.fr

or telephone 04 93 02 33 41 or 06 18 94 35 76