It’s a sad fact that the serious economic climate is not only taking its toll on people but also pets.
The RSPCA announced yesterday that there’s been a 65% increase in the number of abandoned pets they’re having to deal with. And only last week, our local paper, the Bridlington Free Press, had a full page feature asking readers to adopt one of the many cats currently being cared for by the charity. .
So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to find an abandoned cat roaming round the reserve. What did surprise us though was that she had three kittens to support.
After tempting Mum with bowls of cat food, we were able to follow her and discovered her youngsters under the shrubbery to the side of the visitor centre. The feisty felines decided they’d rather stay put rather than move to more suitable accommodation and so the Battle of the Car Park ensued - with the cats putting up strong resistance to any attempt to round-up them up.
RSPB staff finally proved victorious and were able to capture our unwanted guests. They are now being looked after by the Cat’s Protection League while new homes are found.
Membership Development Officer, Rachel Williamson was the only casualty in the skirmish. She received a rather nasty war wound during the struggle. Her bravery will be rewarded with chocolate later.
And while we are, of course, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds our remit is all about saving nature so in this instance, job done.
The warrior kittens
Rach soldiers on