Stray: the free app helping the Algarve’s forgotten cats

Every evening in Azinheiro, a quiet hillside near Estoi, the same small crowd gathers on the cobbles as the bowls come out: a couple of tabbies, a marmalade tom, a sleek black kitten. They are the Azinheiro cat colony, and for Iain Short and Sandra Regina, feeding them has become part of daily life – and the inspiration for an app that could help stray cats across the whole Algarve.

The couple moved to Portugal in 2022, first to Lagos, where they helped feed local cat colonies. When they later moved north of Tavira, they kept finding kittens dumped beside the bins and unneutered strays turning up at their door looking for food. They did what kind-hearted people do: took each one to the vet to be neutered and vaccinated, and paid for it themselves.

What nobody had told them was that it didn’t all have to come out of their own pocket. Every Algarve municipality runs a canil – an official municipal animal centre – where sterilisation of strays is generally carried out free of charge. “We only found out about the canils after a lot of expensive vet bills,” says Iain. “We kept thinking: someone should have told us this on day one. Eventually we realised that ‘someone’ could be an app.”

That app became Stray – Algarve Cat Help, released this year, first for Android and then for iPhone. It is completely free, with no account or sign-up. Open it when you find a stray cat or abandoned kittens, and in seconds it points you to your nearest vet, animal association or municipal canil, with contact details ready to call or email and practical advice on what to do next. The app is available on Google Play and the App Store.

Stray wasn’t built in isolation. While developing the app, the couple asked the region’s animal associations and municipal canils for their input – and were struck by the response. “People were genuinely positive and generous with their time,” says Iain. “They know this problem better than anyone, and they had excellent suggestions that shaped what the app became.”

The idea is to close the gap the couple fell into themselves: most people who find a box of kittens want to help, but have no idea who to call – and the cost of guessing wrong, in money or in time, is often what turns goodwill into a shrug. With the right number in hand, a stray’s story can change in a single phone call.

Meanwhile, in Estoi, history has repeated itself: new strays keep arriving at the couple’s door, each needing food, vaccinations and a trip to the canil. So far everything – the app, the food, the vet bills – has been funded from their own pocket, which is why they have set up a fundraiser for the Azinheiro colony. Every donation goes on food and vaccinations for the cats and, as the fund grows, the couple hope to add outdoor shelters so the colony has somewhere dry and warm through the winter. “Two people can only stretch so far,” says Iain. “With the community behind us, this becomes sustainable – the cats stay fed, vaccinated and looked after, not just this month but for the long run.” Donations can be made at gofund.me/29b7cf23e.

There is a storybook way to help, too. Iain is also the author of The Purrfect Rescue, a children’s picture book about a family who welcome a stray kitten, Whiskers, into their home – available on Amazon.es and Amazon.com. All author royalties from every copy sold now go to the colony as well.

As for what comes next, the couple have ideas but no grand promises. Opening the app up to all animals, not just cats, and taking it beyond the Algarve to the whole of Portugal are both in their thoughts for the future. For now, though, the focus stays where it started: the region’s strays, and the people kind enough to stop for them.

If you live in the Algarve – or just visit – the app costs nothing to download and might one day turn you into exactly the right person at exactly the right moment for a cat with nowhere else to go. Search “Stray – Algarve Cat Help” in your app store, or find it on Google Play and the App Store.

Contact

Stray – Algarve Cat Help · Iain Short · Email: iain.short@gmail.com · Fundraiser: gofund.me/29b7cf23e