Anne Haughie

First published in March/April 2004 Edition

 

When boarding is done properly it performs a valuable role in promoting feline welfare and enables owners to leave their cats while they go away on holiday, move house, undertake home improvements, enjoy family celebrations or deal with domestic crises and emergencies such as hospitalisation with complete peace of mind, in the sure knowledge that their cats are safe and well cared for. When boarding is done badly, it is to the frustration and sometimes horror of owners and to the degradation of the cats themselves.

Over the past 40 years since the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963 first came into force much has been written about the disgusting, disgraceful and sometimes horrifying conditions under which cats were and occasionally are still kept in some boarding catteries. Unfortunately,despite a tightening up of licensing regulations and more knowledgeable environmental health officers visiting boarding establishments prior to issuing a licence, there are still loopholes that continue to allow catteries that are badly designed, badly constructed and badly managed by people who, through ignorance or greed, look upon boarding as an easy source of income that can be achieved at the expense of the health and welfare of the cats in their care. Sadly, many cat owners continue to be blissfully unaware of the miseries that can befall their much-loved cats if entrusted to such establishments.

I have visited many boarding catteries up and down the country - some excellent, some good and more than a few truly appalling. It is only a couple of weeks since I spotted the third advert in the space of a year in my local paper appealing for information about a cat lost from a cattery about a mile from where I live. To lose one cat is unforgivable. But three? Although my days of earning a living from inspecting catteries are over, my curiosity got the better of me. I decided to take a look at the place. From the perimeter gate, I got a sight of a hotchpotch of dilapidated buildings in unkempt grounds. Not looking for trouble, I ventured no further. As there is one excellent cattery and at least half a dozen relatively good catteries within a few miles, I can only hazard a guess as to whether it is ignorance or stupidity that prompts owners to continue to board their cats at such an establishment.