Yahoo News Surrey cats 'could die' as too many abandoned with staff given 'heartbreaking' decision on which to save
A cat charity has warned that cats 'could die' as it is desperately looking for volunteers, after being overwhelmed with needy pets. Cat Protection’s branches in Surrey are almost at capacity as cost of living pressures hit pet owners.
Jen Lennon, area branch manager for Cats Protection in Surrey and Hampshire said: “What we're seeing at the moment is a massive increase in the number of people that want to give cats up for rehoming but there is also a decrease in the number of people that want to adopt cats.
"That does seem to be the case across most of the country but certainly in Surrey, in particular, we're really struggling to be honest because our poor volunteers are having to make the decision as to who can they help. They can't help everyone that needs them.”
Cats Protection figures from May show that there has been a 43% increase in abandonments from last year across the UK.
This can lead to the unimaginable with Jen telling SurreyLive that cats could die: She said: “Thankfully, most of the time when cats like that are found, they might not be looking very well, but usually, they will be okay with some TLC. There's always the possibility that somebody abandons a cat and they don't get picked up by somebody in time and that's heartbreaking for everyone. It does happen sometimes. And with the way things are, at the moment, I would expect we might start seeing an increase in that again, as well."
The charity operates 200 branches and 32 Cat Centres in the UK, helping around 157000 cats per year. However, despite all this effort they are having to turn pets away as they deal with increased demand.
This is having devastating consequences. Jen explained “It's very difficult, especially bearing in mind that our branches are completely run by volunteers. These are people that are giving up their free time to help cats and they're having to tell people that we can't help and obviously that can be heartbreaking. We're all trying to do the best we can to help as many cats as possible. But sometimes we do have to say, we're really sorry, but we simply don't have the space.
“People think 'I can't do this anymore. I need this cat to be rehomed now', so they just leave them somewhere with the hope that somebody will pick them up and look after them. That's heartbreaking all around. That's not a decision somebody wants to make and it's also very sad for the person that finds the cat and the volunteers that have to look after them knowing what they've been through.”
While there are multiple reasons for the increase in abandonment. Jen focused on a clear and obvious one. She said: “The main reason is cost of living. We are seeing an increase in people who are saying that they need to give their car up for financial reasons in general. We're also seeing increases in things like people saying that they need to give up their cat because they've moved and the new landlord says no cats which is also likely to be finance related too .
“Then there's also the additional knock-on effect that because people have less money, they're less likely to want to adopt a cat. So, it's kind of a problem that comes from two sides and squeezes us in the middle.”
“Whilst there are other cat charities that can help people it seems that the trends that we're seeing are being seen across the board, and it also means that we do get an increase in abandonments as well. People turning up, for example, to a vet practice and just leaving a cat and walking away. We're hearing about cats being left in boxes by bins, all sorts of things where somebody's reached that point of desperation.
This is particularly worrying for Jen who joined Cats Protection due to a deep-rooted love for the pets. “I have cats and I have adopted from cat protection in the past as well, I've been a crazy cat lady since I was about a year and a half” said Jen.
She added “My parents had this elderly cat called Boo and he just used to follow me around. I was sort of toddling around the house and he followed me everywhere, he was wonderful. He was like a very good friend to me as a young child. I think I've only gone a month in my entire life that I've not had a cat, So basically that little black cat's got a lot to answer for because my entire career path was probably shaped by those moments.
What is making matters worse is the cost of living is also impacting numbers of volunteers. The charity's figures show that the homing of cats is down 10% compared to the 3-year average for May 2021-2023. Branch volunteers are also down 3%.
Jen said: “There's been a decrease in applications we get for fostering. We're looking for people that have got spare time and that have got space in their homes to take on a cat. If people are really cramped for space, they might have lodgers, they might be in a houseshare or be working long hours and simply not have the time to commit that could be finance related.”
With this in mind Cats Protection is appealing for more people to foster and adopt cats. Jen spoke about how rewarding this process can be using one family as an example. She told SurreyLive: “I said to them, how many cats do you think you fostered? They pulled out a book and they said about 350. Does that not show the level of reward?
Obviously we all know you can get a kitten on the internet but you don't know what you're getting. When adopting from a charity, you know, they've been neutered. They've been microchipped. They've been vaccinated, treated for fleas and worms. You know that you've taken on an animal that really needed it.”
Life can be particularly difficult for middle aged cats as well as those with specific health issues. Some examples of cats in need in Guildford, Woking, Epsom and Ewell have been sprinkled throughout this article and more can be found on the Cats Protection website.
Fosters are giving training and support and Jen says they would be making all the difference, potentially saving lives. More information can be found here.
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