Homes Needed For Cats

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31880, 7 January 1969, Page 2

Homes Needed For Cats

Thirty healthy eats, which the S.P.C.A. can no longer afford to maintain at its animal home in Sockburn, need homes. The animals are aged between six months and four years, and all would make good pets. Some had been at the home several months, but many arrived over the holiday period, said a spokesman for the society yesterday. The society is short of ready cash to pay outstanding bills and expenses must be kept to a minimum. In December, 300 cats and kittens were admitted to the home. Homes were found for 100 kittens, but cats need homes as much as kittens. Abandoned animals are causing concern. In the last fortnight there have been nine such cases, involving about 30 cats, and kittens. ' Five were considered “gen-

uine,” but in the others it was thought persons who went to the home claiming to have found a stray were actually bringing in their own animal. “Some people leave it too late to arrange to have their pet boarded out, or decide to go on holiday at the last minute and just dump the cat with the 5.P.C.A.,” said the spokesman. Owners who did this invariably said they did not want the cat back, some saying it was originally a stray. In law an animal is considered to be the property of a person who has fed it for a fortnight The legal penalty for abandoning an animal is a maximum fine of $2OO or three months imprisonment. Failing to provide sufficient care also carries a substantial fine. The society would like to take more cases of abandonment to court, believing this would act as a deterrent, but proof is difficult to obtain.

It appeals to any member of the public who sees anyone abandoning an animal to report it to the S.P.C.A. home. If note is taken of relevant details —the number of the car, a description of the vehicle and its occupants—the matter can be investigated. Without this information the society does not have a case it can take to court Neighbours who know of animals being left to fend for themselves or shut up inside are also asked to contact the society. Any such information would be treated as confidential. Animals now being cared for at the home include a cat and three of her kittens which a neighbour reported were locked inside for several days. A warrant was obtained to enter the house and the animals are now waiting for their owner’s return. Several kittens and dogs have been left outside with little or no food.