Cats' Cradle

Hard on the heels of hearing Lucy Verall’s story of being at the cat shelter and seeing a family having to bring in their family cat for re-homing because their house had been reposessed, I heard today about someone who is a bipolar sufferer now having second thoughts about offering a home to a shelter cat because she is concerned about being “bipped” onto a lower rate of benefits by Iain Duncan Smith’s so-called welfare “reforms” (ie making poor people pay for the mistakes of the rich)

And reading things like this, stories of people having to hand in their pets to the shelter because their houses are being repossessed, and stuff like that, makes me wonder what country I am living in sometimes.

It's not Britain anymore. It's not England, that's for sure. England, Britain, that I knew, was a place of tolerance and compassion. A place where people looked out for people. A place where, of all the countries in the world, you were likely to get cut a bit of slack, on the understanding that you, in turn, would cut slack to others should it be necessary. Give us this day, our daily slack. And forgive those who trespass against us.

Not a place where people would respond with "well you've only yourself to blame, snap out of it, can't expect the state to provide you with a pet, why not get a stick insect, they're cheaper yadda yadda yadda"

Jesus H Christ on a unicycle. What a mean, spiteful, petty, shop-thy-neighbour society we are creating. I thought Labour were bad enough, but...

Animals are always the first casualties of any recession

An animal charity hit by the rise in abandoned pets during the recession has issued an urgent appeal for help as it fights for its future.
The Hastings and District branch of the Cats Protection League is struggling to cope with the number of cats and kittens it is now being asked to care for.

The volunteer-run organisation has issued a desperate plea for funds as the demand for its services carries on growing.

It is the second local cat charity facing an uncertain financial future after the RSPCA Bluebell Ridge cattery, Chown's Hill, revealed cashflow problems late last year.

Experts say the recession left many pet owners unable to care for their animals.

Peter Hepburn, chief executive of the Cats Protection League, said one branch received 100 unwanted kittens in just a few weeks.

"This surge in unwanted cats is extremely distressing. It is a crisis for the cats and it piles additional pressure onto our volunteers. Our network of branches and centres are already stretched to the limit looking after the cats in their care.

Well done, Tories.

To all those who say Iain Duncan Smith’s “reforms” are necessary to get scroungers off the dole and into jobs, I have a simple question

WHAT jobs? WHERE ARE the jobs?