9 Jul 2025
Seven cats and six kittens taken in by Wakefield veterinary hospital after they were found abandoned in woodland on one of the hottest day of the year so far.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Veterinary care assistant Ahmad Shah, Wenda Jackson from Henry’s Haven and Chantry Vets trainee veterinary nurse Heather Frost, with some of the abandoned cats and kittens.
A veterinary practice has appealed for help to find foster homes for 13 cats and kittens that were found dumped in woodland in Leeds.
Clinicians at Chantry Vets say the seven cats and six kittens, all black, would have been unlikely to survive without being discovered by a passing dog walker in the Woodhouse Ridge area of the city.The animals are now being cared for at the practice’s hospital in Wakefield, where staff are working with local rescue charity Henry’s Haven to find temporary foster carers.
Practice director Victoria Lee said they had never experienced so many abandoned cats and kittens being brought to them at the same time.
She added: “It’s a really shocking case and if the cats hadn’t been found by a passer-by by chance, they would have suffered heat exhaustion and probably would have died in those temperatures.
“All of them were packed tightly into three carriers and left without water. It has been a really traumatic experience for them and some of them were absolutely petrified.”
Debbie Newsome, who runs Henry’s Haven, praised the practice for its response to what she described as “an emergency situation”.
She said: “Chantry Vets have been amazing taking them all in and I don’t know what we would have done without their help. We regularly work alongside the practice, and they are so supportive to us.”
Anyone interested in fostering is asked to contact Henry’s Haven by emailing [email protected] and not to contact the practice.
