Help needed to fund resort cat sanctuary

The Rainbow Bridge cat sanctuary in Grosvenor Street could face closure after its main sponsor, Wyre Animal Welfare, shut down.

Founder Anthony Gillick, 70, said the shelter desperately needs new support to continue to provide vet treatment for the 36 cats currently in the charity’s care.

He said: “The charity that has helped us for the last 12 years has closed down, and they helped us 100 per 
cent with vets fees.

“Vets fees have seen an enormous jump in the last few years.

“It’s a bit of a shock to the system when, suddenly, the vets say you have to pay for the operations when the last operation we had to pay for was £482.”

The Rainbow Bridge, which is managed byvolunteers, most of them pensioners, is no longer taking in new cats, though it is still rehoming the ones it already has.

Anthony said: “People don’t realise that when you take a cat on it’s basically for life, or in our case, until it’s rehomed, and that it can cost hundreds to look after, especially if it isn’t spayed or 
neutered.

“We took in nine cats from one family, including the mother. We don’t want to turn cats away but we find we don’t have any choice.

“We don’t make any money out of it. £72 a week goes to cat food, wet and dry. We’re doing it out of a labour of love.

“The people who we have rehomed our cats with are really happy. We try to match the cats with the individual and make it a cat for life.”

Can you help the Rainbow Bridge cat sanctuary? Call Anthony on (01253) 622042.