Cat charity opens doors to its Yorkshire homing centre early due to high demand
02 November 2013
Cats Protection, the UK’s leading feline welfare charity, has been forced to open the doors of its eagerly awaited Cat Homing Centre in Leeds having been inundated with calls for help from the public in the region.
The homing centre, created to support the growing concern for cat welfare issues in the city, was due to officially open late November. However, within just three days of Cats Protection volunteers moving onto the site to complete some finishing touches, the centre is now full of cats that need new homes.
Diane Mulcahy, Gildersome homing centre manager comments: “We’re delighted to see the centre in use but we didn’t expect to be up and running so quickly – and in all honesty we were not prepared for the number of requests for help we’ve had.
“We’ve been inundated with calls from cat owners who can no longer look after their pets and although we were not due to open yet we want to help as many cats as possible so opening our doors now was our only option.”
The purpose built centre located in Gildersome will help the charity extend the support it offers to the region significantly – meaning in real terms, that upwards of 500 cats and kittens waiting for new homes each year will be given a second chance in life.
One cat currently in care at the centre is three-legged Peggy who was found living in a run-down shed at the bottom of a garden which was filled with mounting rubbish and filth. Peggy’s leg was badly damaged and bleeding and there were obvious signs this wasn’t a new injury and she’d been struggling for a long time.
Sylvia, who volunteers for the charity’s Wharfe Valley Branch and who saved Peggy comments: “Peggy’s story is one of the most moving of the hundreds of cases I’ve dealt with over my years with Cats Protection. She was in a tremendous amount of pain, undernourished and anaemic due to excessive blood loss. She hadn’t been spayed so could have easily become pregnant.
“We took her to the vet and unfortunately they had to amputate her leg but despite everything she’s been through, it is remarkable how friendly she is. Peggy has now been in Cats Protection’s care for almost a year despite countless appeals to find her a home.”
Diane added: “Peggy is just one of 30 cats we have in care at the moment, 15 of which are based at the centre and a further 15 are waiting with our fosterers to be rehomed. Therefore, we’re urging anyone considering bringing a cat into their family to talk to Cats Protection first and help us continue working to improve cat welfare in Leeds.”
The Homing Centre can be found on Gildersome Lane in Morley, LS27 7BN or by visiting the charity’s Facebook page ‘Cats Protection Gildersome Homing Centre’.
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Notes to editors
1. Cats Protection’s new homing centre will become part of a national network of 257 volunteer-run branches and 30 adoption centres that together help over 218,000 cats and kittens each year.
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.
4. More information about the work of Cats Protection can be found at
www.cats.org.uk