Charity says abandoned kittens at 'worst' levels

Peterborough Cat Rescue charity said the situation of abandoned cats is 'heart-breaking

A cat rescue charity is calling for a mandatory neutering law to be introduced after seeing a "rise" in abandoned or unwanted kittens and cats.

Peterborough Cat Rescue (PCR), a volunteer-led charity that re-homes and looks after felines, said it was working to “absolute maximum capacity” and struggled to cope with the “sheer volume” of abandoned pets.

Daphne Wilson, who founded the charity 48 years ago, described the situation as “horrendous and heart-breaking” and said it was the “worst” time she had seen.

She said the charity, which doesn’t have a premises, had to stretch its capacity to take in cats this week as they “were in danger of being put to sleep in absence of finding a new home.”

Woodgreen Charity, which also supports and cares for domestic pets, said it had seen an increase in the number of abandoned cats since the start of 2024, and hundreds of kittens were being abandoned every week.

Peterborough Cat Rescue said they are averaging £13,000 in vet costs a month and the volunteers had to work hard to fundraise to keep the charity going.

Last month, it said 111 cats were rehomed and it organised re-homing days every few weeks to find “appropriate and good homes”.

Ms Wilson said the charity's efforts were “never-ending” and recently, it has had to help out smaller rescues in Bedford and London by taking in some of their cats,

She feared “cats will become vermin in Peterborough”, if nothing is done soon.

“People need to take responsibility of their pets seriously," she added.

"Read up about them, get them neutered. I know vet bills can be expensive, but budget for it. If not, there is help out there.

“Just one morning this week I had a call about a mum and seven kittens and then another call straight after about another mum and three kittens - [all] abandoned.

“My colleague has launched a petition, calling for neutering to be made a law. Maybe that is the solution going forward.”