ANIMAL rescue organisations in the Forest area say they have been shocked by the situation described in our page 1 story last week.

Many have offered homes for abandoned pets and in the case of Cats Protection, donations of cash to help the organisation pay some of its expenses.

But the situation remains desperate for all animal rescuers, largely because of the current financial crisis.

"I have had at least three offers to look after Betty the abandoned kitten, but she will be going nowhere for a while until she has fully recovered," said Sara Ford of Cats Protection.

"However I have been able to divert callers to other deserving animals so that is going quite well. We have also had some kind donations including a cheque for £100. There have been lots of applications for neutering too and our neutering officer tells me she has been working overtime."

She repeated her call for people who could not keep cats and kittens to not abandon them in the wild in the hope they could look after themselves.

Bream dog-rescuer Helen Szuluk said she had also had some kind offers to help and with luck three unwanted dogs would be going to good, happy homes.

But many more would not be so lucky. She was particularly concerned for Molly, a five-year-old Rottweiler cross. Molly lived with her disabled owner who has recently died, and she is now lost and bewildered in kennels with Helen's friend Jenny Cole who runs www. noahsarkrescue.co.uk (see site for Molly's details).

•Helen Szuluk can be contacted on Dean 560670; Cats Protection – http://www.cats-forestof">www.cats-forestof

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