03/11/2023
This is my response to the Article in the newspaper.
I just wanted to say that this report is very one sided & I wasn't even asked for a comment. I was seriously ill in hospital when this happened. Apparently pictures were taken by a whistle blower (or when they raided? My cattery is usually excellent & when they raided & in the letter withdrawing my licence there were 4 too many cats in so there was absolutely no reason for this & I haven't been given one. The member of staff in charge was fairly new, apparently they raided early so I guess there hadn't been time to sort out incoming cats etc. I did a survey as ebvidence of how happy customers were with our cattery. If anyone would like a copy just ask me. No one from the council has even bothered to talk to me or look at the possible mitigating reasons. think the last comment by the council leader says it all: 'the cats were examined by the RSPCA & found to be in good health despite being kept in unsuitable conditions' He then goes on to speculate: 'this strikes me as fortunate rather than by design'. I think this says it all!! My only crime was that I had 4 too many cats in by trying to help people as so many catteries have had to shut don in the area. I was turning upwards of 6 people a day down (many in tears). I love cats & never made any money at all - (I didn't want to. nThere is absolutely nothing in the 68 pages of guidance saying what to do if you are seriously ill in hospital! I did what I thought was best & all cats were very well looked after & happy. I feel both myself, cats owners & mainly cats plus students on placement have been treated very unfairly by both the council & whoever the whistle blower was (I wonder what they hoped to get out of this?) & also be the ET for not bothering to get a statement from mne. The ET have missed a big scoop here because here is a chronic shortage of cattery & kennel boardi9ng places all over the country which t6o me boarders on cruelty. When I did 10 years fostering with Cats Protection there were numerous cats coming in who were abandoned. I am the 20th cattery in this area which has shut for various reasons. There is now no where for cats to board at a reasonable price. I have also found out the guidance is entirely down to the councils interpretation & there is absolutely no where to go for any help, support (other than my lovely cat owners & family) or advice.. If anyone wants to make any comments or suggestions other than on here my e-mail address is: [email protected] I'm so sorry to everyone that the cattery is now closed. I have tried everything I can to keep it open. Maybe others will find ways forward! Please forgive any mistakes in this message -my hands don't work well.
