The founder of Kisukot, a long-running cat rescue in Akureyri, says she will no longer serve the town due to a lack of meaningful support from local authorities.
For over 13 years, Ragnheiður Gunnarsdóttir has cared for feral and stray cats in Akureyri and surrounding areas. But despite repeated appeals for assistance, including requests for suitable housing and a service agreement with financial backing, her case was ultimately dropped by the town council earlier this year.
“Originally I applied for housing because it’s a huge burden to have all this at home, and they actually told me very quickly that they didn’t have any housing,” she said during an interview with RÚV.
Although a one-time grant of ISK 500,000 was issued, Ragnheiður says it falls far short of what is actually needed. Her actual costs include annual veterinary bills of around ISK 1 million, plus food and supplies.
While other rescue shelters in Iceland receive regular municipal funding, Akureyri’s own animal shelter has not hosted a cat in at least three years. Kisukot is now launching a petition to have the case reopened.
“I’ve actually announced that I can’t serve Akureyri anymore,” Ragnheiður told the news agency. “If there are any cats in need, people will have to call the town.”
