A former volunteer said: Some of these people have no compassion for the animals they are meant to look after. There is a kill policy for cats, domestic and feral.
ANDREW PENMAN: In an emotional Facebook post, Natalie Dodds asked: “Does this kitten look like she needs to be euthanised?” Natalie told how she had resigned as a volunteer at Cats Protection because the giant charity wanted the kitten called Penny put to sleep. There are other volunteers across the country who say that they too have walked out over what some call its “kill policy”. Natalie, a former foster carer at the charity’s branch in Telford, Shropshire, says that she took in little Penny after Cats Protection officials recommended that it be put down rather than have an operation for a chest deformity…
Natalie states that the charity is particularly inclined to euthanise cats with two viruses usually known by the initials FIV and FeLV, especially if they are wild. “Cats Protection will ‘snap test’ for FIV and FeLV all cats but if a feral has a positive result, they will not have secondary bloods tests done – it’s euthanasia immediately.” Others make the same allegation, including Sue Phillips who volunteered for the Atherton and Wigan branch of Cats Protection in Lancashire for 21 years until being told by email that she was no longer wanted.
Matters came to a head when branch members met national officials who wanted a cat called Simba, who had FIV, put to sleep. “Volunteers at the meeting challenged this due to having previous success with ill or unwell FIV cats,” said Sue. “The two officials repeated on several occasions that FIV cats that were ill should be put to sleep, full stop. “The fosterer was following the agreed treatment plan with the vet but the committee was told that the fosterer should overrule the vet and euthanise the cat…
Jacky Goodman was co-ordinator of Stockport Cats Protection, working there for more than 30 years until being sacked over free-roaming cats near the pens. “A manager said this loose colony of cats had to go, I said they’re not going anywhere,” she explained. “The majority had health issues, it would have been hard to re-home them and most would have been put to sleep. “I wasn’t going to allow that, I stuck by what I thought was right for those cats. “They also said we were spending too much per cat…
Kim Leadbitter resigned from the Wharfe Valley branch in North Yorkshire, admitting that she smuggled animals away from Cats Protection to save them. She states that she would take FIV cats to independent rescue groups “under the radar”, rather than see them put to sleep by Cats Protection… “Some of these people have no compassion for the animals they are meant to look after.” A former volunteer for the Harrogate branch, also in North Yorks, said: “There is a kill policy for FIV cats, domestic and feral. “I was told that we were not to take in any more farm kittens as ‘who knows what germs they may bring in’. “There was no way that I could work for an organisation that had no care for feral cats”…
Cats Protection said in a statement: “As a charity that values the hard work and dedication of its volunteers, it’s very upsetting for all concerned when there are disagreements. “We don’t take their resignation lightly and sadly none of the complaints are news to us as they’ve been subject to lengthy consultations over the past few months. “Unfortunately, however, human emotion can often cloud judgement of what is best for animals and, as cat welfare experts, our job is to ensure we do what is in cats’ best interests who are masters at hiding pain and distress. SOURCE…
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