220 cats rescued in Shropshire after calls to RSPCA cruelty line

The figure makes cats the most rescued animal of all for the charity – four times more than the number of dogs.

The chairty also revealed that 359 cats were rehomed across Shropshire.

Alice Potter, cat welfare expert for the charity, said: “Sadly we do know that cats are an extremely misunderstood pet and can often find themselves the victims of poor care.

“Our inspectorate is getting calls every day from worried members of the public reporting the cruelty of these animals and the number of cats we are rescuing nationally is equivalent to 60 per day which is far too high.

“Cats can become victims of air gun attacks as well as poisonings both accidental and deliberate, just like dogs they can also become victims of over breeding and over population.

Adoptober

“We know that the answer to a lot of the problems relating to cats in this country is raising the rates of neutering which in turn will lead to fewer unwanted animals coming into our centres and branches.

“We are calling for cat owners to neuter their cats at around four months old, rather than six months, which can greatly reduce the risk of them getting pregnant and owners being stuck with an unwanted litter.

“If you are thinking of taking on an animal we would always urge people to look into adopting a rescue pet, as our centres are full of loving cats of all shapes and sizes looking for forever homes.”

This month the RSPCA launched a campaign for ‘Adoptober’ and is dedicating the month of October to raising awareness of it’s vital work finding homes for animals most in need.

Visit rspca.org.uk/findapet for more information.