'Worst year we have ever had': Yorkshire rescue boss on mounting pressure facing animal shelters

The boss of a West Yorkshire animal rescue centre has spoken of the “unrelenting” pressure on shelters, as rising costs and increasing numbers of animals needing help put charities under strain.

Lynn Nicholls, chief executive of Yorkshire Cat Rescue in Keighley, said 2026 has been the “worst year we have ever had” for the charity.

“We are literally treading water,” she told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “Everybody’s stretched for space, fosterers, resources, money, and doing the best that they can possibly do.”

The rescue took in 96 cats in October, Nicholls said. For a period, two of the centre’s cat blocks were out of action because of ringworm, leaving it with one block of around 10 pens and its kitten house.

Nicholls said the rescue has closed its waiting list while it worked through existing cases. She warned that if it kept adding animals, some people could be left waiting 12 to 18 months.

The cases arriving at the centre include emergencies, cats referred through vets, animals returned by people who had adopted them, and owners bringing cats to the rescue, she said.

“We can only help so many cats at any one time,” Nicholls said. “You’re saying no to 10 people a day. Returns come first. Then you’ve got your danger-of-death cats.”

The pressure is also reflected in national figures. The RSPCA reported a 44.5 per cent rise in cat intakes at its national centres between 2021 and 2025, with cats arriving faster than they can be rehomed.

The charity also reported 1,780 incidents in 2025 involving ten or more cats at one address, a 65 per cent increase on the previous year, according to The Guardian.

Nicholls said the financial strain was a constant concern. She described checking the charity’s accounts each month and worrying about how it would pay its bills.

“You have sleepless nights over it,” she said. “We don’t have endless amounts of money.”

Yorkshire Cat Rescue is predominantly volunteer-run and has few paid staff. She said some employees work longer than their paid hours.

“They get paid seven and a half hours, and sometimes they’ll work 10-, 12-, 14-hour days,” Nicholls said. “You’ve got to be in this because you love the animals, not because you’re doing it to earn any money.”

She said the pressure on rescues is being driven by several factors, including the cost of living, the impact of Covid on neutering and how quickly cats can breed.

“When they say ‘breed like rabbits’, they should say ‘breed like cats’,” she said, explaining that cats can become pregnant at four months old.

She said neutering was disrupted during the pandemic, when vets were concentrating on emergency procedures, and unwanted litters followed.

Nicholls said more support for neutering would help tackle the problem.

“The only way for us to make a huge impact would be to have schemes where we can offer neuters and support people,” she said, adding that government support for rescues would help.

The solution, she said, would include more support for people to neuter their cats.

“The only way for us to make a huge impact would be to have schemes where we can offer neuters and support people,” she said, adding that government support would help rescues tackle the problem.

She also said support from the public need not always mean a donation. Sharing the charity’s posts and leaving encouraging comments can help staff feel their work is valued, she said.

“Donations are important,” she added. “But don’t underestimate the difference that you make as a person by following us, sharing our posts, and just the beautiful comments that people put on to support everybody.”