A Bury woman is campaigning against irresponsible pet ownership after adopting two cats with birth defects.
Helena Abrahams, 53, rescued kittens Thumper and Smooch last year and discovered both had severe birth defects that she says are the result of inbreeding.
Helena, founder of campaign group Gizmo’s Legacy, says both kittens have a number of serious physiological issues.
Smooch has a facial abnormality, a split between his mouth and nose, while Thumper lives with the most severe effects of inbreeding, which include abnormalities in all of his legs, three extra claws, and no "toe beans" on the bottom of his paws.
Thumper has had to have one leg amputated after bones in his legs had not formed correctly.
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An owner of seven rescued cats, Helen has long campaigned for animal rights through Gizmo’s Legacy, which she founded after her cat, Gizmo, was euthanized and cremated without her knowledge.
Helena is also raising awareness of the importance of spaying or neutering pets to avoid the mistreatment of unwanted animals.
She said: “Get them spayed, get them neutered, get them chipped.
“The rescues overrun, there’s just too many to give away and every rescue is full because people don’t realise how serious it is.
“There are going to be more and more deformed cats about.”
Helena says pet owners are often ignorant about the importance neutering their animals, saying some do not realise that related cats will breed, or think female cats should have “just one litter” leading to unwanted kittens being sold, sometimes to irresponsible owners.
She has launched a petition to Parliament to stop animals being sold online.
Helena added: “We are getting so fed up of all these cats and dogs that are being killed from being picked up on these websites.
“People think they can make money out of them, they use the cat as a breeding machine.”
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Despite a difficult start to life, Thumper and Smooch have proved popular on social media where Helena has more than 35,000 followers of her rescued animals – the crazy gang.
The pair have proven so popular that they were both crowned Cat of the Year 2023 in the Mirror’s People’s Pet Awards.
Helena says Gizmo’s Law is making good progress and has thank Bury North MP James Daly for his support in her campaign.
She added: “I can’t say too much, but its almost there, we we’ll just have to watch this space.”
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