Real risks
Trapping, transport, travel, bites, falls, traffic, neighbourhood disputes and responding to emergencies.
Nationwide campaign · Community-cat caregivers
If you care for them, you must be protected
Citizen collaboration must not mean facing alone the accidents, assaults and risks arising from a municipal responsibility.
We are not asking for citizen collaboration to disappear. We demand that it be voluntary, complementary, safe and recognised—never the invisible, unpaid replacement of a municipal duty.
What is happening
Daily work cannot be left without protection.
Councils across Spain accredit caregivers, collaborators or feeders to sustain community-cat colonies. GARRA wants to understand the real conditions in which this work is being carried out.
Uncertain protection
Many people do not know whether insurance exists, who is responsible after an accident or what their council-issued card actually covers.
Essential work
Citizen collaboration is sustaining routine tasks without which many municipal colony programmes would not operate.
Legal framework
The wording on a card does not settle the issue.
The law distinguishes citizen collaboration from organised volunteering. The specific duty depends on the autonomous community, local by-laws, agreements and the real relationship with the organisation or council.
Management is a council responsibility
The law assigns community-cat management to local authorities. They must regulate caregivers' rights and duties and take responsibility for matters including veterinary care and conflict protocols.
Read the lawOrganised volunteers have rights
Within its scope, it requires a written incorporation agreement, accident and illness cover, and prevents volunteers from replacing mandatory public services.
Read the national lawAccidents and civil liability
Catalan law expressly recognises cover for risks arising from the activity and accidental harm to third parties, and requires that cover to be provided.
Read the Catalan lawWhat we demand
Clear, verifiable minimum protection.
Plataforma GARRA calls for a common standard agreed by the State, autonomous communities and local authorities.
- 01
No accreditation without written information on the caregiver's status and who is responsible after an accident.
- 02
Suitable accident and civil-liability insurance for every authorised caregiver, regardless of the title on their card.
- 03
Training, equipment, safety measures and protocols for trapping, transport, emergencies and health risks.
- 04
A clear council and police response to insults, threats, assaults and neighbourhood disputes.
- 05
Protection for caregivers' identities and sensitive colony locations.
- 06
Citizen participation must complement, never replace, the duties and services of public authorities.
13 October · DGDA conference
From testimonies to a concrete proposal.
GARRA will raise this issue during a round table on volunteering. Results will be used in aggregate form, and testimonies will only be quoted anonymously where permission has been given.
A nationwide map
We need evidence to take this reality to public institutions.
The questionnaire records the municipality, type of accreditation, agreement and insurance, routine tasks and incidents. We do not request medical records or sensitive documents at this first stage.