A Stevenage vets has had 10 lots of cats and kittens thought to come from the same owner dumped on its doorstep over the years - even though it offers a free neutering scheme to try and stem the number of unwanted moggies on the streets.
RSPCA inspectors were called to Walton Lodge Veterinary Clinic in Maxwell Road after staff there found the latest unwanted donation of six kittens on Monday morning two weeks ago.
The cats are now in the care of the Cats Protection charity and have been named Mel, Sue, Paul, Hollywood, Mary and Berry to celebrate the return of the Great British Bake Off TV show.
The clinic has had ten litters - more than 60 kittens and two adult cats - dumped over the course of several years and suspect they may be coming from the same person.
The cats are usually dumped in a new cat carrier and are always black and white or tabby in colour.
This time around the kittens appear to have come from two litters and all of them were suffering from cat flu.
RSPCA inspector Steve Reeves said: “The message we really want to drive home is that this vet clinic is covered by a neutering scheme, and if the owner of the mother cat was able to bring that cat in for neutering it would remove the problem of the unwanted litters and stop future suffering of kittens.
“The RSPCA alongside other charities and vet clinics are able to help with the cost of neutering and it is a simple and quick operation. The RSPCA encourages owners to neuter their cats as soon as they are old enough - which is from four months old.
“If anyone has any information about these cats specifically and how they came to be dumped they can call our inspectorate appeal line on 0300 123 8018.”
Walton Lodge veterinary nurse Melanie Rist said: “Every four to six months over the last few years we have had another litter of cats dumped.
“Around 60 unwanted kittens have been dumped in this same spot over recent years - and the concern is that unless something is done to stop this happening this number will increase.
“They are always of similar colour and always in a new cat carrier. We have had adult cats dumped before which we thought might be the end of it, but it wasn’t. This is a veterinary clinic, there is no one here overnight, so kittens are potentially being dumped in poorly states on their own.
“The local animal charities are already full and struggling to rehome cats. The answer lies in taking advantage of the C4 neutering scheme and bringing the adult cats in here to be neutered.”
The kittens were taken to a second vets and into the care of the Cats Protection to be looked after and are recovering well.
Bianca Kubler from the North Herts branch of Cats Protection said: “These little kittens were initially thought to be five but a tiny black one had hidden away.
“The kittens were far too young to be away from mum and needed supplementary feeding, the little black kitten was quite poorly.
“Now through care and medication these little ones can look forward to a kind and caring home via our cat and kitten adoption scheme.
“I would also like to thank our vet, Roebuck Group, for their fantastic help in finding a place for these chaps to go as we were snowed under just like all the other charities.”
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