A CATS Protection League shelter, wrecked when two bull terriers were maliciously loosed in its pens, has been repaired - thanks to the generosity of Evening Press readers.

New fencing has been put up and additional security measures, including an alarm system, have been brought in to stop a repeat of the horrific attack which took place at the York shelter, last December.

Sue Glew, who cares for the cats in the specially-built facility in her back garden, says she now feels much more secure and cannot thank readers enough for donating hundreds of pounds to pay for the security improvements after reading of the attack.

"We have only just got it finished and we wanted to thank everyone," she said.

"But I feel much happier now because there is an alarm system which lets me know if anyone else comes into the garden.

"It can be plugged in anywhere in the house and so I can hear it even if I am upstairs."

A scene of blood-spattered devastation greeted Sue when she ran outside to the shelter in the early hours of December 28, after being awakened by the noise of the dogs rampaging through the pens.

Most of the blood came from the dogs, who had cut their mouths chewing through the wire netting to get to the cats.

Sue was horrified by what she saw and, heedless of her own safety, rushed in and dragged the dogs out.

All the cats were extremely upset and several refused to be persuaded down and continued to cling to the roofs of their cages hours after the dogs had been taken to a local vets, but miraculously, only one cat was injured.

"Patch and the other cats climbed to the top of their cages and hung from the wire ceilings to escape the dogs," said Sue.

"But his back claws were ripped out as he clung on for his life.

"He had only just recovered from serious injuries after being hit by a car, which meant the vet had to pin his legs and shoulders."So it's taken him a while to get better, but now he's ready to move to a new home."

Patch has already raced through two of his nine lives in less than two years and Sue will only rehome him if a quiet home in the countryside, well away from traffic, can be found.

Meanwhile, the charity is still fundraising so the same level of security can be put in at its main Acomb shelter, in Green Lane, which it is estimated will cost more than £500.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.