A CAT lover who set up a refuge at her home said the shelter is facing crisis after she was inundated with homeless animals.

Jackie Bower, who has been running the Black Cat Rescue Centre in North Duffield for ten years, said she had never had so many calls from people with abandoned cats or those looking to rehome pets. She now has a lengthy waiting list and is having to turn cats away.

Jackie said: “Not only is the shelter bursting at the seams, I am taking call after call from people wanting me to re-home their cats.

“I’ve been doing this a long time but I’ve never had so many calls in such a short space of time and what is prompting it is a mystery. I suspect the big rescues are full and so in desperation people are ringing me.

“We’re so full, one of the cats in the shelter is already ‘homeless’ and living on the floor between the pens because three six week old kittens were found without their mum under a hedge so she had to be relocated.”

Jackie said she has no idea what has caused such an increase in unwanted animals, but said she has been given a variety of separate reasons from owners.

Some have said they do not want their cat because they were emigrating, another because their cat has become pregnant and one because it put hairs on their clothes.

She is appealing to people to come forward to give a cat a home, especially the older cats, as she is struggling to home them all.

She is becoming particularly concerned because she is due to lose her job when the company she works for closes in November. If you think you might be able to help, phone Jackie on 01757 289435.