For how long has Battersea Dogs & Cats Home been caring for cats?

My understanding is that Battersea Dogs and Cats is now called 'Battersea'. It is celebrating 140 years of caring, rescuing and rehoming cats. That timeline needs to be explained because Battersea was founded by Mary Tealby in 1860 when it was called "The Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs".

Whittington Lodge is the small building bottom-left. Image: Battersea.

It wasn't until November 1882 that the public unanimously voted for the charity to accept cats as well as dogs. The vote, apparently, came about because of a surge of unwanted cats roaming the streets of London and the West End at that time. The first cat resident at Battersea occurred in December 1883, which is why we have the 140 years during which the charity has been caring for cats.

Battersea is 163 years old. Specifically, it was started on October 2nd, 1860. 

The home was initially established in Holloway, London and it moved to Battersea in 1871. 

I had thought that Battersea was the oldest cat and dog rescue centre and animal rehoming centre in the world but that might not be the case because Wikipedia states that it is one of the UK's oldest and best known. 

I think it's actually better than that and I would like anybody to tell me if I'm wrong. I think Battersea is the oldest rehoming animal shelter in the world by which I mean the longest-standing organisation of this type in the world.

There is actually a very old cat shelter surrounded by modern buildings at Battersea (see picture above). This unique building was created to house unwanted cats by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis. It was and is the first purpose-built cattery in England and it has been awarded a grade II listed building status.

I think it is this building which allows us to award Battersea with the accolade that it is the oldest cat rescue and rehoming organisation in the world. This unique building is called Whittington Lodge.

It is exceedingly rare for such a building to survive and when you visit Battersea you see this old building in the middle, entirely out of place with the now modernised shelter which Battersea has become. They've poured millions of pounds into it to update it.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home will defy British law after December 31 and rehome American bully XL dogs

NEWS AND COMMENT - UK: On December 1, 2023, it will be a criminal offence to breed, sell, advertise, rehome, abandon American XL bully dogs or allow them to stray. Owners of American XL bully dogs will be required to keep them on a lead and muzzle at all times in a public place and the dog should be in a secure place when at home.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Photo: Architects Journal.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and Blue Cross, both top animal charities, the former being perhaps the best-known animal charity in the world in terms of rehoming rescue animals both cats and dogs, have said that they will continue rehoming the breed despite the new rules. They plan to defy the criminal law which is extraordinary.

They disagree with the new law. And they are not the only people who do because the argument is this: the problems with American XL Bully dogs is not that they are a dangerous breed per se -although, as I recall, they are not a registered breed with a recognised kennel club. The problem is the people who are involved with breeding them and owning them. That's the problem area.

RELATED: American XL bully should be docile according to the co-founder of the breed. But owners are giving them steroids and making them aggressive to be attack dogs.

Secondly, the argument is that because each individual American XL bully dog is not registered in a kennel club studbook, the only way you can identify them is through their appearance, which is very dubious. It's very difficult because there are hybrids of this dog. They are crossed with other dog breeds and the argument is that it is almost impossible to identify with accuracy an American XL bully by appearance alone. It'll be a nightmare for the police.

American XL Bully. Image believed to be in the public domain.

I believe that that is the argument of these charities. Anna Wade, the public affairs manager at Blue Cross, said: "Any dog can be dangerous and by stigmatising one breed you are sending out the wrong message."

That point has been made before as well namely that a little cute French Bulldog can be dangerous and bite people under the right circumstances, background and experiences.

Blue Cross has estimated that about between 50,000 and hundred thousand dogs might be affected by the new rules.

Rishi Sunak, UK's Prime Minister, is determined to eradicate this "breed". As mentioned, it is not a formal breed as registered. He has described the dogs as a "danger to our communities" after an attack in Birmingham by a cross bred XL bully which injured two men and a girl aged 11.

We shall wait and see what happens because the question now is whether the authorities will prosecute these two charities which they will be able to do if the charities carry out their intentions. I don't think they will.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Owners abandon the cats that kept them company during lockdown

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has reported that 148 cats have been surrendered to the shelter for financial reasons. This is double the number compared to last year. They've all been handed in because their owners are cash-strapped, hit by the cost-of-living crisis which has been so heavily reported on in the UK. And the winter is yet to arrive. This is when gas and electricity prices are going to double or treble or whatever the figure is. That's going to push up inflation even further perhaps to around 13% in the UK. There will be more surrenders.

Pictured: Dustin 2-month-old male tabby and white kitten gifted to Battersea his as owners were no longer able to look after him. Image: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (believed).

What is particularly sad about this story is that the people who adopted kittens and cats during the Covid lockdowns are now abandoning them because of, yes, the cost-of-living crisis and inflation and, frankly, because they didn't really work out how much it would cost to look after a cat for the life of the cat.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home say that it costs about £1,500 annually to look after a cat properly. You might do it cheaper than that but let's put it this way, it does cost money and it is something which is often overlooked.

RELATED: Shanghai residents fight back against state-sanctioned Covid-related animal cruelty.

Battersea say that the people who are giving up their cats are often devastated and that it is a very emotional time for them. I would doubt that applies in every case. If you casually adopt a cat during lockdown to keep you company it signals to me that the attitude of the adopter is incorrect and that being the case giving up their cat is not going to be as hard as they state.

Battersea state that the number of cats relinquished to their shelter because owners can no longer afford to look after them has reached 9.6% of families relinquishing cats whereas it was 5.9% last year.

An example is Amanda - a fictional name to protect her identity - who found her two cats were a huge support during lockdown is but she's been forced to give them up for financial reasons. She said: "I was struggling to afford things and I didn't want my cats to suffer, so it was best to find them a better home. I struggle with mental health and the cats were a big part of my life, so it was upsetting to get rid of them."

There is a double problem which is this. More people are giving up their cats and it is harder to rehome cats because people are wary about the rising costs ahead of them and are therefore hesitant to take on the added financial responsibility.

RELATED: Fears that starving Russian soldiers are eating abandoned cats and dogs.

In one instance a couple of cats were surrendered because they became pregnant and their owners said that they could not afford to take care of the kittens as well. Well, you have to think why did the owners allow their cats to become pregnant? That is careless cat ownership.

Another high-profile cat rescue organisation, Cats Protection, said that a survey of 10,000 cat owners found that 30% were concerned about affording bills.

I can foresee many more cat surrenders taking place over the forthcoming winter. What is happening now was entirely predictable and predicted a couple of years ago during the first lockdown. And the same problem is occurring with dogs. In fact, I would suggest that the problem is bigger with dogs because more dogs were adopted during Covid lockdowns than cats.

On the other side of the coin, cat owners determined to hang on to their cats are getting pet food from food banks. Animal charity Blue Cross already has four pet food banks and is looking at rolling out more across the country according to the Express newspaper online.

Look at the gorgeous cat cubicles at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Screenshot from their video.

This short promotional video from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home shows us how pleasant it is for the cats. See the vertical space that they have provided at the back of the cubicle. This is essential to enrich their confined space. And it looks reasonably spacious compared to some I have seen in other shelters.

I have visited the place. It is very large. It has the oldest boarding cattery in the world at the center of the shelter. This shelter has an amazing pedigree (excuse the pun). The facilities are exceptional and their reputation extends to the entire world. It is probably the best-known dog and cat shelter on the planet. It is right in the middle of London. It is south of the river Thames.

 

Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

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I have some pages on Battersea as it is called for short: 

RELATED: Handsome cat overlooked at rescue center for 125 days because he has FIV. The average stay for a rescue cat or dog at Battersea is 23 days. 

RELATED: Pets rescued from the Grenfell Tower blaze to be temporarily housed by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Rescued dog parents and nurtures rescued kittens and it's beautiful

This is a great picture taken, I believe, by Rachel a nurse at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home who also fosters rescued animals at the shelter. She volunteered to foster some very young kittens who had been cruelly abandoned by the roadside. It's a hard job looking after kittens at that age and parenting them. 

Bertie a rescued Lab retriever parenting rescued kittens abandoned at 2-weeks-of-age at the roadside. Photo: Rachel of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Bertie, her ex-Battersea rescued Labrador retriever stepped up to the plate and volunteered to help. He's done a great job and entertained Rachel at the same time. Rachel made the point that I want to make which is that it is wonderful to see a rescued dog looking after rescued kittens. 

It is a beautiful interspecies relationship which is in stark contrast to the relationship between the former owner of the abandoned kittens. It must have been incredibly poor for a person to throw away kittens on the roadside like that. 

It always bemuses me how people can do this. They must have abnormal brain function. A part of their brain is obviously missing because nobody can do something as cruel as that without something fundamental lacking in their mentality. Often it is down to poor education due to poor parenting but I don't know the background to the abandonment. What is clear though is that no one should ever throw away kittens at the roadside or in woods. There are rescue centers for these unwanted animals. Have the courage and decency to use them, please.

We see quite a lot of pictures of dogs parenting cats and kittens and vice versa. But rarely do we see a photograph this good in terms of its composition and the expressions on the faces of the animals. The lighting is pretty good too despite being artificial. I have to commend Rachel for the photograph if indeed she did take it. I expect she did because she was fostering the kittens and I believe still is.