Some London cat shelters are struggling to accept new felines as the number of abandoned and stray pets rise.
The issue has been linked to the cost of living crisis, owners experiencing a change in their circumstances, cats without a microchip getting lost, and an increase in unwanted litters.
Karen Gleaves, who is a trustee with the Croydon Animal Samaritans and has been volunteering with the charity for three years, considers non-neutered cats in the UK to be the cause of the problem.
Gleaves said: “It’s ridiculous.
“I don’t know why more things aren’t being done by the government to make it illegal for unregistered breeding cats to not be neutered.”
It is a law that has come in for countries like Australia, and more recently Spain, who have made it illegal for cats from the age of six months not to be neutered.
A petition on the parliamentary website failed to garner the 100,000 signatures needed for it to be debated in the Commons last year.
Gleaves added: “You have no idea about the number of stray mums and babies we’ve taken from gardens this year, it’s just horrific.
“We really don’t have any space for them, we’re only a small charity but it sometimes feels like it’s the small ones that are left to pick up the pieces because we can’t say no.”
There are currently around 200 cats in the care of Croydon Animal Samaritans’ care and they are constantly finding abandoned cats in people’s gardens and even dumped at their charity shop.
Putney resident, Sean, is one of those who tried to submit a kitten to Battersea Cats and Dogs Home after he found it in his garden three weeks ago and it kept crawling through his window.
This was on top of unsuccessful attempts of posting on community Facebook groups to find the kitten’s owner, leaving her outside with a paper collar, and taking her to the vet to find a microchip.
Sean, who has taken the kitten into his home for cats not being officially allowed in his flat complex, said: “I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.
“I don’t want to just leave the cat outside, especially with it getting so cold outside at night and with the foxes.”
The shelter had to turn the kitten away due to reaching capacity and said it was unlikely to be able to accept more cats for a while.
Battersea’s Rehoming and Welfare Manager, Bridie Williams, said: “This is the largest number of cats I have seen us caring for at any one time since I started at Battersea five years ago.
“They are also currently spending more time with us.”
Some initiatives have already been put in place to improve the cat population in London, such as enforcing the microchipping of cats in June, and a neutering financial assistance scheme.
Featured image: Karen Gleaves
