Overview
- The RSPCA said on Tuesday that its national centres and local branches are operating at or beyond capacity as cats arrive faster than they can be rehomed.
- So far this year the charity has taken an average of 624 cats per month into its 14 national centres and private boarding, a pace that the RSPCA says will push intake past last year’s roughly 20,000 cats.
- Large-scale incidents have surged: the charity reported 1,780 calls last year involving ten or more cats at a single address, covering more than 36,000 animals in total.
- Recent rescues underline the strain — 26 cats and kittens were dumped in sealed boxes in Birmingham last month, 25 Scottish Fold cats were rescued in April, and police assisted a seizure of more than 100 cats in December.
- The RSPCA is urgently appealing for adopters and fosterers and is urging owners to neuter cats, noting kittens can breed from about 16 weeks and early neutering based on weight prevents rapid population growth.