October 12, 2012

Dear Madelaine,

I wanted to write and thank you for your generous donation, receiving such, especially from overseas, is always very heartening. Just so you know, it takes a while for US cheques to clear through the UK banking system so it will be about 4-6 weeks before the money goes from your account.

We are launching a really important project this winter which has the support of all the leading scientists and, after a year of waiting for it, from the government as well. We’ll be using new genetic techniques to identify wildcats living in the Highlands whilst also carrying out widespread neutering of feral cats and lots of public awareness work, believing it’s possible to create “safe havens” for wildcats from where they can rebuild their population with support from captive breeding efforts. I’ve attached a couple of our member newsletters to this email which explain the project in more detail.

The work is carried out in some of the most inaccessible parts of Scotland in the midst of ferocious winter weather which is regularly around -20C, it takes a lot of time, expertise and money so financial support is really valuable to us at a time when the whole world is struggling and I’ll make sure your donation goes towards this work.

Thanks again and best wishes,

Steve Piper
Chairman
Scottish Wildcat Association
www.scottishwildcats.co.uk