Media statement from Cats Protection with respect to Pets at Home
21 March 2014
It is a very sad fact there are too many unwanted cats in the UK in need of homes. Cats Protection has thousands of cats currently in care so having a homing and information centre in a Pets at Home store will help to encourage more people to consider adopting a homeless cat. It will also enable us to further promote cat welfare and responsible cat ownership to the public. This follows in the footsteps of other animal welfare charities that already have homing centres in Pets at Home stores.
The welfare of cats will be safeguarded in the same way as that of the cats in our care across the UK and potential adopters will go through the same process as they would when adopting from any Cats Protection centre, ensuring people cannot buy a cat on impulse.
The centre in Pets at Home will contain spacious pens that have been custom-built to our welfare standards and the cats will be cared for by charity’s staff and volunteers. It has purposely been separated from the rest of the store to avoid large numbers of people passing by the pens, thereby minimising stress to the cats.
For a number of years, many of our volunteers and staff across the country have been working with Pets at Home to raise vital funds and awareness of our work with cats. The centre is the latest step to expand our capacity to find unwanted and abandoned cats new homes, in addition to our existing network of 287 branches and centres. In consultation with volunteers from the charity’s board of Trustees and those most closely affected, it was felt this was an opportunity to increase the number of cats adopted and to inform the public about responsible cat ownership.
To adopt a cat from Cats Protection anywhere in the UK, we ask for an adoption fee to enable us to carry on helping more cats in need. Whilst fees do not cover the cost of looking after the cats, they go some way towards helping us continue the day-to-day cat welfare work.
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Notes to editors:
1. Cats Protection is the UK’s leading feline welfare charity and helps over 218,000 unwanted cats each year through a national network of 257 volunteer-run branches and 30 adoption centres.
2. Cats Protection’s registered charity number is 203644 (England and Wales) and SC037711 (Scotland). The charity’s vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs.
3. Founded as the Cats Protection League in 1927, the charity adopted the name Cats Protection in 1998. We ask that you use the name Cats Protection when referring to the charity in all published material.