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By Richard H. Levey
Donors for whom Cupid’s arrow has flown wide of its mark are being offered a unique way of expressing their pique. For the equivalent of around US$36, an Irish animal rescue nonprofit will name a feral cat for the object of one’s derision, and then promptly sterilize said feline before releasing it back into the wild.
“This Valentine’s Season, for the month of February, if you’re looking for a little Symbolic Closure and a way to do some genuine good, Neuter Your Ex,” an announcement of the program on the Galway SPCA’s website touted. “For €30, we’ll name a feral cat after your Ex and Neuter them as part of our Trap, Neuter & Release (TNR) programme.”
“As we enter the season of love, we all know that not every love story gets a fairytale ending,” the Heathlawn, Killimor, Co. Galway-based animal shelter’s managers observed in a statement announcing the program. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and letting go can be harder than we expect.”
There is a serious side to the promotion. “Your donation directly supports vital cat welfare work, helping reduce overpopulation and improve the lives of feral cats in our community. It’s therapeutic for you! And it makes a real difference to them.”
The shelter does offer a gentler lower-donation option. “Not quite ready to cut them out completely? That’s okay, too. Swipe Left or Hard Pass. With these options, for €5 [about six U.S. dollars] a feral cat will receive parasite treatment in your ex’s name! Purrfect for when you want closure with a gentler touch … and help keep nasty parasites at bay!”
There is, apparently, an appetite for destruction among alienated inamoratas: As of February 9 posts of the program generated more than 3,000 likes and 1,000 shares on Facebook, with commenters getting into the campaign’s spirit (“Can it be husbands instead of exes – asking for a friend” and “I actually cannot be mean enough to give a cat that man’s name”). There were 6,311 likes, 447 reposts and 8,430 shares on Instagram, with comments ranging from “Can we do this for politicians” to “Absolute genius, take all my money.”
This year’s fundraising effort marks a distinct change in tone from a year ago, when the closest thing to a Valentine’s Day message was a February 11, 2025 post on “Adopting a Guinea Pig” that featured a pair of the furry Cavia cavorting in a cage festooned with heart-adorned accessories.
This year’s promotion launched on February 1, and runs through the end of the month. At deadline, representatives from the Galway SPCA had not responded to inquiries regarding how much had been raised so far, whether more neutering or spaying had been sponsored and whether more donations had come in from men or women. The NonProfit Times will update this story if further information become available because this version is not necessarily the final cut.
