Tourists rescue kitten blocked in drainpipe by hotel staff
A KITTEN was rescued by tourists at an unnamed Girne hotel after hotel staff blocked its home in a drainpipe with concrete leaving it trapped inside.
Kyrenia Animal Rescue (KAR) volunteer Kim Betts said: “Hotel staff were aware that these two ladies were feeding this tiny black kitten. They went to feed it [last] Tuesday morning as usual and asked them for help but they said that the concrete was to stop it coming out. The ladies came to our office in a terrible state and borrowed a carrier.”
Hotel staff eventually agreed to break the concrete when faced with the prospect of a visit from KAR volunteers and the petrified kitten was eventually retrieved, suffering from shock and dehydration.
Calls for a “naming and shaming” of the Girne hotel were dismissed by the charity, which said in a statement: “We have spoken to the hotel, and staff regarding our Community Programme and will revisit them as we take education seriously both in schools and the wider community.
“We want them to learn from the poor kitten’s experience. It is our hope that they will see the benefits of setting up a cat feeding area, which we will help them to achieve.”
Charity head Margaret Ray added: “We are working with the Riviera Hotel, Merit Group hotels, Altınkaya and Denizkızı, who have all provided feeding stations for their cats. We are also advising them on signage for the feeding area, restaurant areas and hotel rooms to advise guests to feed animals at the feeding station rather than from the table, and not to encourage animals to come into their rooms.
“Feeding stations make it much easier for our warden to catch the cats for our neutering work and also allows us to remove sick or injured cats.
“We should all congratulate these hotels for working with KAR to reduce the population and encourage other hotels and restaurants to do likewise.”