Appeal as huge number of cats in need of new home

Siblings Tigger and Smokey are looking for new adventures - but so are 195 other cats at the centre

A cat charity has issued an appeal for support amid an unprecedented number of animals in need of a new home.

The Cats Protection Derby Adoption Centre in Long Lane, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, has 197 cats and kittens in its care currently.

But for every pet it finds a new home for, there’s a waiting list of about 200 cats that need to come in and take their place.

Adoption centre manager Helen Wood is calling on potential families that can offer a new home to get in touch to help ease the crisis.

She said: “We’ve been operating for 27 years and we’ve always been busy but this year there are more cats to help and rehome than ever before.

“Basically at the moment we’re overflowing with cats looking for homes. We’re hoping there are maybe more people out there that want to adopt a cat or kitten.

“Some of the cats that come to us are stray, some are cats people have had to give up for various reasons, such as health issues, or moving somewhere they can’t take the cat, and the cost of looking after a cat can be a bit much for people at the moment.

“But we never put a healthy cat to sleep. They stay with us until we can rehome them.”

The Long Lane centre has never been as busy as it is right now

The longest term resident at the centre is “mature lady” Missy, 17, who has been looking for a home for the past 12 months.

Missy’s owners died and she is now looking for a quiet home with no other pets or young children.

Yet almost half of the cats at the centre, operated by 20 members of staff and a team of volunteers, are kittens looking for a first home, like siblings Tigger and Smokey.

The pair were part of an unwanted litter, but the centre - which has vaccinated, neutered and microchipped them - says they are both “delightful”.

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