An international Newcastle-under-Lyme-based firm which helps protect domestic cats from danger has given away £10,000 worth of its products as it celebrates more business success overseas.
Cat fence barrier pioneers ProtectaPet invited “super-fosterers” who go the extra mile to look after felines to apply for the chance of a free cat enclosure.
Judges from International Cat Care helped to draw up a shortlist, and four people across the UK were successful.
One of the winners is close at home – Claire Jones of Iris’s Cats in Need, an animal rescue charity in Stoke-on-Trent.
Volunteer Claire looks after cats at her own expense at her own home while they are awaiting re-homing.
Eve Davies, Co-Founder and Director of ProtectaPet, said: “We decided that we’d like to give something back to the community of people who do so much to look after pets in need.
“Providing them with our products and services is a great way of doing this.
‘Iris’s Cats in Need has a special place in our heart for several reasons.
“We adopted Lola, a rescue kitten, from them in 2007. It was her premature death in a road traffic collision that inspired the designs and vision behind our company.”
The loss of Lola spurred Simon Davies, Eve’s husband and co-founder of the company, to design a unique range of cat fence barriers, “catios” and cat enclosures which enable cats to explore their owners’ gardens and outdoor spaces safely.
Lola is commemorated in the name of the company HQ, Lola House, on the Loomer Road Industrial Estate in Chesterton, Newcastle.
With 30,000 cats protected in the UK so far, ProtectaPet has been expanding into Europe from its fulfilment centre in Rotterdam.
Sales in France, Belgium and Switzerland have more than doubled in a year, boosted by a French-speaking customer service arm.
