Andrew Stephenson, MP for Pendle, joined Cats Protection at its annual Christmas parliamentary reception to celebrate the charity’s work speaking up for cats, held at the House of Commons on Tuesday 5 December.
The event was hosted on the charity’s behalf by Kevin Foster MP to thank Parliamentarians for their continued support of Cats Protection’s work throughout the UK.
There was the chance for MPs and peers from across all parties to come together to play a fun ‘find the sleeping cat’ game and to personalise a bauble for a cat-themed Christmas tree.
Among those attending were Lord Gardiner, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity, and George Eustice, Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Cats Protection is the UK’s leading cat charity, helping around 190,000 cats every year through a network of over 250 voluntary-run branches and 34 centres.
The charity’s Head of Advocacy & Government Relations Jacqui Cuff said: “Cats are one of the nation’s favourite pets so it was wonderful to welcome so many politicians to our Christmas Reception.
“Our annual reception is our way of saying thank you to our elected representatives and to the many other animal welfare charities and professional organisations we work with.
“It has been a busy year with our major campaign on kitten sales, our 2022 Agenda for Cats launched ahead of the General Election, and our petition calling for licensing of air guns in England and Wales in line with the new licensing regime in Scotland.
“More than 47,000 supporters joined us in calling for better regulation of commercial kitten sales. We have also received over 75,000 signatures for our air guns petition and are delighted the Government has announced it will be reviewing air gun licensing. Sadly, air guns are frequently used to deliberately inflict harm and suffering on cats.
“All this shows that there are a lot of people who want to see real change to improve how cats are treated in the UK. It’s heartening that so many politicians came along to our reception to support Cats Protection.”
To find out more about Cats Protection’s advocacy work, please visit www.cats.org.uk/speakingupforcats.