Paws Protect Expands to Support Cat Owners Escaping Domestic Abuse in 3 New Counties

Following a successful first year, Cats Protection’s Paws Protect service is expanding into three new counties – Sussex, Kent and Surrey. Currently operating in London, Hertfordshire and Essex, the service was originally set up in response to a number of enquiries received in relation to domestic abuse and pet safety.

The service is a support for cat owners fleeing from domestic violence, keeping cats safe until they are ready to be reunited. On referral, cats are health checked before being temporarily homed with a foster carer. All information shared between the cat owner and fosterer is confidential and coordinated by the Paws Protect team, ensuring complete anonymity.

As Carrie-Anne Martin, Paws Protect Project Coordinator, says: “Paws Protect fosterers and the protection of anonymity are at the heart of the service and enable cats to live in a loving home while their owners settle in a new life away from domestic abuse.”

Adding to the success of the project’s first year as a stand-alone Cats Protection service, the charity won a competition by video production company Through the I to receive a pro bono video promoting the project. Sharing details of the service, the video invites people to become Paws Protect fosterers, or if they aren’t able to give their time, to donate instead.

Cat fosterer Georgina says: “Being a Paws Protect fosterer is a wonderful experience. Cats that are often very timid soon come round and start to purr and play again like well-balanced, happy, safe cats. They’ve been through very difficult times and have had a lot of unsettling upheaval so I feel that I am doing something really valuable and worthwhile for cats and their owners.”

Further details about the service can be found by heading to https://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/paws-protect.