Cats Protection opens rehoming centre at Pets at Home

Cats Protection has opened its very first UK Homing and Information Centre in the Newbury Pets at Home store.
Cats will be displayed in pens provided by the store, with shoppers able to choose a cat and – after paying a £65 ‘adoption fee’ – return the next day to pick it up.
Pets at Home said that spacious pens have been custom-built to animal welfare standards and that they have been purposely separated from the rest of the store to avoid large numbers of people passing by and minimise stress.
It added that. with thousands of cats in need of homes in the UK - the new initiative will help to encourage more people to consider adopting a homeless cat.
Owners adopting from Cats Protection will have the peace of mind that their cat will have been examined by a veterinary surgeon, microchipped, vaccinated, neutered if old enough and will also come with four week’s free insurance.
However, as reported in the Newbury Weekly News last month, a leading vet and an animal welfare criticised the move, expressing concern that keeping cats in pet shops would lead to impulse buying and expose the cats to extra stress due to the amount of people visiting.