The Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire, Russell George, has joined the UK’s largest cat charity at the launch of their Manifesto for Cats.
This week (Tuesday 23rd February) Russell George was delighted to attend the event hosted by Cats Protection to find out more about the charity, which helps over 205,000 cats across the UK and has a network of over 250 volunteer-run branches and 32 centres.
In Wales, Cats Protection rehomed 2,600 cats and kittens in 2014. It has two Welsh Adoption Centres (Bridgend and Wrexham) and seven volunteer branches across Wales. As well as rehoming cats, Cats Protection is the leading authority on cats and helps people better understand their needs. The charity also promotes and supports neutering as the only effective way to reduce the number of unwanted and abandoned cats.
Cats Protection’s Advocacy Manager Jacqui Cuff said:
“It was great to meet existing and future AMs. Cats are hugely popular pets, with 29 percent of households in Wales owning at least one cat, so we were pleased to meet so many politicians and guests all keen to find out more about our work and what they can do to help.”
The Welsh Manifesto for Cats outlines a string of measures that Government could take to improve the lives of the Wales’ estimated cat population of 670,000. Proposals include better controls on the breeding and sale of cats, banning snares, and ensuring more owned cats are microchipped.
Russell George AM said:
“Animal welfare is hugely important to the people of Wales – and a Welsh Conservative Government will lead the way in ensuring better protection for the nation’s animals; whether they be companion, farm or wild.
“Cats Protection do so much to improve feline welfare in Wales and across the UK. The fact that over 9,000 people across the UK volunteer and help Cats Protection, whether through cat fostering, rehoming, encouraging neutering or providing cat care advice is really impressive.
“Despite being an essential part of the lives of so many people, cats are frequently subjected to mistreatment and neglect. I hope many more politicians will join with me in 2016 to improve the lives of cats in Wales.”