'Cat killers' - Rescue boss hits back at trolls after putting troubled cat down

Yorkshire Cat Rescue was accused of "murdering a healthy cat" after staff made the heartbreaking decision to euthanise Tommy, a stray who had attacked his new owner.

Chief executive Lynn Nicholls, 46, said devastated workers faced abuse and calls to trash the charity's online reviews.

She said: "It was the worst experience we've had with something happening online. It was honestly just disgraceful."

Tommy was taken in by the charity in Keighley after being fed by locals - and initially seemed suitable for a home where he could have his own space.

But his adopter contacted the rescue in distress after he suddenly attacked her without warning, prompting staff to bring him back.

Over several months, workers spent hours assessing Tommy, consulting a behaviourist and vets, looking for triggers and trying medication on veterinary advice.

He improved briefly before progress stalled and his behaviour worsened.

The team explored rehoming him to a farm or stables but ruled it out because they said he sought out people before unexpectedly attacking them.

After further discussions with specialists, they concluded there was no safe way to rehome him and that putting him to sleep was the kindest option.

It was the first time the charity had euthanised a cat because of behavioural problems, according to Ms Nicholls.

She said: "It's the most heartbreaking thing, it's the hardest part of what we do. This was a massive blow for the whole team, simply because they tried so hard - it's not particularly what they wanted to do."

The charity posted about Tommy's death online in order to celebrate the lives of animals in its care, Ms Nicholls said.

But the post sparked furious claims that staff had killed a healthy cat, with some falsely claiming he was feral.

She said: "There were 20 comments saying we've murdered a healthy cat, but he was not healthy - we'd been working with a behaviourist for month on end.

"People have been posting fake stories in the comments about what happened.

"I haven't got an issue with people not necessarily agreeing with us. But what I've got an issue with is the online bullying that's taken place."

One night Ms Nicholls said she was up from 1am to 3am blocking abusive users as the row spread online.

She said: "One person was telling people to go on Google Reviews and leave us horrible reviews. Google ended up deleting them because they were so awful."

Other critics urged people not to support the charity, and Ms Nicholls held one-to-one calls with shaken team members.

She said: "A lot of the team were distraught."

She warned smaller charities could be driven to the wall by such backlash, adding: "We're lucky that we've got 55,000 followers, but this situation could have crippled other rescues and stopped people going to them."

The charity has spent 34 years building itself up to the point where it can afford to pay some workers.

Ms Nicholls, who took over in 2022, said rising costs were making it harder for owners to pay for their cats' care and treatment.

She described this as the rescue's toughest year, with nearly 100 cats arriving each month.

Despite the abuse, supporters and other rescues rallied round with kind messages, calls and emails.

She said: "We're not going to start hiding things we do in case there's a backlash.

"People need to think about what they're posting online and the impact that has on the people on the other end of those posts."