FRUSTRATED volunteers at a cat charity are hoping to set up their own cat shelter.

The volunteers who claim they were ‘pushed out’ after working at Evesham Cats Protection, have complained about various changes the head office of Cats Protection has put in place. Betty Ambury is a cat owner who has been helping the volunteers.

Mrs Ambury said: “They are trying to find a premises but have no money. They also haven’t got any cat pens. They are looking for any donations they can get.” Mrs Ambury said: “They are hoping that someone can offer them a premises, like a barn or something similar, but it would have to be for free of charge.” The premises would need water and electricity. The volunteers can only register as a legal charity when they have £5000 in a bank account.

The volunteers who had worked at the shelter in Wickhamford, Evesham have criticised the imposed use of plastic pens and plastic gloves, foot covers, arm protectors and aprons that volunteers now have to wear when cleaning cat pens, to be thrown away after one use, which the shelter’s ex coordinator Angela Middleton said is: “ridiculous and not environmentally friendly.”

The volunteers say the neutering of eight-week-old kittens has also been one of the changes they have disagreed with. A change that Mrs Ambury described as “cruel.”

“Putting a kitten that young through an operation is traumatic an it’s not necessary” said Mrs Ambury .

Barrie Knight, the former secretary at Cats Protection Wickhamford said: “The BVSA recommends that this be done at 4 months, but the vets always like them to be a certain weight when they do it.”

Sarah Elliott BVetMed MANZCVS (Feline Medicine) MRCVS - Central Veterinary Officer said in response:

“Cats Protection’s neutering policy for the cats in the charity’s care is for cats aged four months and over to be neutered before homing where the attending vet is in agreement.

However, the charity does allow for the neutering of kittens that are younger than four months of age, with the agreement of the attending veterinary surgeon.”

Mrs Middleton who has been with the shelter for 40 years described the treatment of the volunteers as “humiliating.”

The volunteers say they wrote up a letter of resignation detailing their concerns about the changes that had been introduced. The letter was not sent but left in the office at the shelter, another volunteer found the letter the next day and phoned the Head Office to inform them of it. When the volunteers returned the following Monday, the locks had been changed.

Mrs Middleton added: "We did not leave, we were pushed out."

Mrs Middleton said: "The public should know, when they are constantly begging for their money, what their money is being spent on."