Peter Shergold, Cats Protection head of field operations

A FIFTY-YEAR-OLD cats home will close its doors on Sunday for the final time after bosses announced on Tuesday they were “winding down” operations there over the “awful” conditions.

But the speed of the decision has left some volunteers at the North London Adoption Centre in Archway “outraged”.

Actor and former Radio 2 newsreader Chandrika Chevli said: “It’s been handled, to be honest, incredibly clumsily and badly.”

She has volunteered at the Junction Road centre for seven years and lives in nearby Ashley Road. The centre first opened in 1974 after being “gifted” by a donor to the Cats Protection charity.

“Until you’ve got that new centre up and running, I think it is actually a dereliction of duty to not keep what you’ve got; a busy existing centre that provides so much help and so much support for cats,” Ms Chevli said.

“Many people and cats depend on the centre and its closure will have a huge impact on cat care in the area.

Volunteer Danyel Madrid

“As a volunteer there I am aware the centre is often a place where people who are desperate and cannot look after their cats leave and dump them. It shows a staggering lack of aware­ness of how important the centre is to close it with­out letting people know.”

Fellow volunteer Danyel Madrid agreed the sudden closure was “very upsetting” as it was “being closed so quickly”.

She added: “The centre has been in Archway for decades. It’s such a major loss for the community, and those cats in need in the north and central London.”

A letter sent to the charity in May from 20 volunteers said they were “deeply disturbed by the decision to close the centre,” and feared cats being “dumped on our streets”. It also criticised the process as being opaque and  accused bosses of patronising volunteers.

But Cats Protection’s head of field operations Peter Shergold defended his decision this week, insisting this was the best outcome for cats at the centre after the conditions there worsened.

“It’s really simple; it’s extremely poor cat welfare,” he said yester­day (Thursday) of the centre, where cats are kept in pens in the basement without protection from airborne pathogens. Dampness is also an issue.

The centre in Archway that is set to close

“We’ve got cats who are getting injured in those pens,” he explained. “They’re getting their paws caught. They’re getting their heads stuck. It is awful. And honestly you’ve just got to see it, the pens are in the basement. It’s not a cattery. It’s a house. It’s a residential house that has been turned into a cattery and it’s time we close it.”

Volunteers suggested selling off part of the building to revamp the basement pens or launch a fundraising drive, but Mr Shergold dismissed that suggestion.

“This is not about the money,” he said. “It’s much better to invest that money in a new site that’s actually a cattery rather than trying to revamp a four-bedroom townhouse which is just not fit for purpose.”

Defending the decision to close the centre before finding somewhere else – they have been looking since 2019 and have a 2,500 waiting list – he said the cats will be better looked after in their Mitcham and Harrow centres and by local fosterers.

He added: “Under no circumstances will they be put down. We home over 30,000 cats a year and help 184,000 through our 36 cat centres and 192 branches. We have 9,200 volunteers.

“We will ensure they are homed and looked after in the best con­ditions, which is the key driver for this change.”