Cambridge cat-lovers were appalled to learn of plans to close the Blue Cross Cambridge Rehoming Centre, which has been helping cats in the city for nearly a hundred years.

A record number of pets are expected to need new homes this year as people return to workplaces. Please sign this petition to let Blue Cross Head Office know how much the Cambridge Rehoming Centre’s work means to cats and cat-lovers in Cambridgeshire, and how vital it is to keep the centre open.

Cambridge Blue Cross has been part of the city since 1935, when the site was given to the charity for the benefit of local cats. Over this time, the Cambridge rehoming centre has become a loved and trusted local and regional resource. It is also unique, having both modern cattery accommodation and highly experienced staff able to work with even the most challenging cats and get them to the stage where they are able to be rehomed.

The national Blue Cross charity faces financial challenges, but replacing this rehabilitation and rehoming centre with a remote pet fostering service as proposed will simply not meet current or future needs of cats in and beyond Cambridgeshire.

Whilst remote fostering services for cats already exist via the Cats Protection League and RSPCA, there is a severe lack of experienced foster carers. I myself have adopted three ‘special needs’ cats from Cambridge Blue Cross, but would not have done so without having been able to meet them at the centre.

The charitable mission of the Blue Cross is to ‘ensure that every pet will enjoy a healthy life in a happy home’. Closing the Cambridge centre would greatly reduce this ability – fewer cats will be helped; those most in need will not be helped; and the incredible expertise of the centre’s staff to deliver this mission will be lost.

Clearly, there is an urgent need to raise extra money, but please do not close the Cambridge Blue Cross centre – once lost, the purpose-built facilities could not be regained and too many cats would suffer if the centre were lost. There would also be little incentive for anyone to donate to the charity in the future.

Speaking as a carer and volunteer for the centre, and as a cat-lover, the plans to close the centre and lose the unique, badly needed and irreplaceable resources it offers to cats in need are devasting. Please keep the centre open at all costs, and give staff and supporters a chance to help raise the money needed to do so.