Dear Letters Editor,
We are pleased to share that the Cats Protection Lifeline service, previously known as Paws Protect, is expanding into further areas of the UK. Lifeline is a free and confidential fostering service that provides temporary loving homes to cats whose families are fleeing domestic abuse, reuniting them with their owner once they are safe.
Abusers will often use their partner or family member’s love for their cat as a tool to coerce and control. Our recent survey of over 400 professionals working with victim-survivors of domestic abuse showed that 78% encountered cases where cats had been physically abused and 39% had supported cases where a cat or kitten was killed by the abuser.
They have not only come across cases where cats were physically abused, but also spoke of cases where survivors of domestic abuse were unable to access essential veterinary care because an abuser had full control over their access to money.
The Cats Protection Lifeline service has provided confidential foster care for over 250 cats this year so far, enabling over 150 owners to get to safety, but we want to do more. It has expanded from the South East into Yorkshire, East Anglia and the Midlands, but we now need more volunteer cat fosterers in these areas to enable us to support even more cats and their owners.
The expansion of the service is supported by a generous three-year grant of £315,000 from the Pets Foundation, so we would like to thank everyone who shops at Pets at Home for making this possible.
Anyone wishing to find out more about Lifeline or interested in becoming a fosterer should visit www.cats.org.uk/lifelineservice
Yours faithfully
Amy Hyde
National Lifeline Manager, Cats Protection