Bradford is facing a cat crisis as hundreds of the animals are being abandoned by their owners.

Staff at rescue places throughout the city say they just do not have the room to take in any more cats.

And they are desperately searching for people to give them new homes.

Volunteers at Cat Rescue in Allerton are appealing for emergency help to stop them closing their doors.

The rescue, which is based at the Prune Park Inn in Prune Park Lane, is now looking after 139 cats and kittens - the most since it opened 16 years ago.

They are desperately in need of cash to help pay for food, rising vet's bills and costs.

More volunteers are also needed to help cope with the growing number of animals.

"We're really desperate and we can't possibly carry on this way," said volunteer Jenny Sampson. "People are literally turning up with the cats in their arms, begging us to take them in, and we're getting phone calls every few minutes.

"Otherwise animals are just being dumped. Yesterday we had two kittens in a carrier bag just left in the car park. We've had to extend the cattery but we still haven't got enough room for them all. It's costing us £150 a week and we're using about a hundred tins of cat food a day.

"We haven't any regular source of income and the last vet's bill was £850 for two weeks which we're really struggling to pay."

The rescue has a number of collection points at Morrisons supermarkets around Bradford where people can drop off tins of cat food. They are also open every day for people to go in and choose an animal to adopt.

"If we don't find some of the animals homes soon or get some more cash in, then I don't know what will happen," said Mrs Sampson. "We won't put animals to sleep but we can't afford to vaccinate them or look after them properly. All the other rescues in Bradford are having the same problems."

Margaret Blundell of the RSPCA said many people were picking up cats that weren't even strays.

"In the last two weeks we've had 106 cats brought in and it's just ridiculous. Where are the owners of all these animals?

"It's as if people are going on holiday and just abandoning their cats or locking them out.

"Another big concern is that people are seeing cats in their garden and just assuming they are stray. If a cat is not sick and it's not starving or looking ill, then don't feed it and give it a chance to find its own way home."

Cat Rescue can be contacted on Bradford 487546/549122.

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