South Wales cat sanctuary speaks out after ‘emotional blackmail’ email
Molly Stubbs
A cat sanctuary has put out a Facebook post requesting “compassion and respect” after receiving an “emotional blackmail message” via email.
Ty Nant Cat Sanctuary, located in Cymmer, Port Talbot, said this was the second instance of online harassment that had led them to post publicly.
An independent, not-for-profit home rescuing stray and abandoned cats, they said the incident came about after they were unable to take in extra cats due to lack of space.
‘Abused’
In the Facebook post, which has garnered 550 likes and 118 comments since it was posted on Thursday 28 August, Ty-Nant Cat Sanctuary wrote :“Today we received an emotional blackmail message because we could not take in someone’s cat.
“This is just two weeks after being abused for being unable to take in a pregnant cat.”
They then shed further light on the situation, writing: “Just last weekend, we took in 10 cats from a multi-cat household where inbreeding was happening. There should have been 11, but one kitten had already passed away before we could help. This is the reality of our rescue work.
They also attached a picture of the “emotional blackmail message”, which reads: “I have now spoken to many sites and got nowhere.
“If I cannot get help these cats will have to be put down or put to best homes for a free pet. I am fed up with being pushed around.
“If I don’t get support I will deal with this myself.”
Ty-Nant, who kept the image anonymous, did not share images of the preceding conversation or disclose whether they had replied privately.
Their post ends: “We will continue to do everything we can for the cats who need us most, but we will not be bullied. Thank you to everyone who shows us compassion and respect—you are the reason this work is possible.”
They also included a link to their GoFundMe page for those who wanted to donate and support their work.
Views
Commenters were quick to come to the sanctuary’s defence, sharing their view that the sanctuary is doing an “amazing” job.
One such commenter wrote: “How dare they threaten people who are doing their best to help in their own time and for free. Take responsibility for your pet, they are not disposable and you don’t deserve them if that is your attitude.”
Swansea Wildlife Emergency Ambulance Rescue also came to Ty-Nant’s defence, commenting: “That is an awful way to treat somewhere that dedicates so much to so many.”
However, not everybody agreed with the original post, with another commenter asking: “Is this blackmail? Surely if the person cannot get help from any charities they have tried, the responsibile thing to do would be to take to be put to sleep?
“I hate to play devil’s advocate, and I’m sure I’ll get the hate for it, but honestly all I see here is someone desperate trying to do the right thing.
“Let us not forget, there are MANY (as we well know) who would have simply dumped the cat somewhere.”
Ty Nant, who rely on volunteers, currently have eight cats listed for adoption on their website. Many of the cats can also be sponsored.
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It’s not… blackmail as such…. but it is playing somewhat dirty. It does sound like someone who has tried a lot of things and are at the end of their tether. That doesn’t make it appropriate though.
The sensible response here would be something along the lines of…
Sorry we cannot help this time as we do not have any capacity left. We recommend checking if x, y, z organizations are taking more, however, if they have no space, please check out these resources for safe DIY rehoming.
Many people just want a path forward.
It is compulsory to chip a cat in England and this increases the sterilisation rate, taking kittens to the vet, helps to prevent ferals and inbreeding while it also assists in returning wandered cats to their owners. However, the Welsh Government decided not to make this compulsory in Wales.