THREE kittens abandoned in Crete have new homes to go to thanks to a fundraising campaign to bring them to the UK.

Sarah McCallister, from Smithills, launched an appeal last month to get the cats to England and to find them permanent places to lives.

Mrs McCallister had been on holiday in May with her husband Ross when they saw the kittens, barely a few weeks old, under a bin. They had no mother and appeared to be unfed and uncared for.

The couple cared for the kittens for the duration of their holiday before leaving them in the care of animal protection.

Volunteers were able to feed the animals but could not offer them a home.

Mrs McCallister started a fundraising campaign for £750 to pay for the injections, passports and flights for the animals to bring them to the UK.

Just £40 of the £750 is left to be raised and permanent homes have been found for all three of the kittens.

They are now being looked after in a foster home on the island while they wait to come to the UK.

Mrs McCallister runs Perfection by Sarah salon in Plodder Lane and raised money in the shop and online.

She said: “We only need about £40. The cats are in a foster home in Crete and we need to wait six to eight weeks before we can get them over here now.

“We got about £150 to £200 after it was in The Bolton News and we got emails from people offering to help.”

Two of the kittens are going to friends of Mrs McCallister, aged 40, in Bolton while the third is going to Newcastle.

The kittens will be flown to Paris and then driven to Bolton where they will be reunited with the McCallisters.

They could not house the kittens themselves as they already have two dogs and a cat.

The arrangement with friends to take two of the animals will mean that they can see them regularly.

The kittens cannot be flown to the UK yet as they have to be between 16 and 18 weeks old to get their rabies jabs, which they are not old enough to have yet.

In about six to eight weeks the kittens will have their jabs and can then begin the journey to their new permanent homes.

In the few weeks there will be time for the final £40 to be raised for everything needed to get them to the UK.

Mrs McCallister said: “Just a big thank you to everyone who has donated.”

If you want to help support the campaign, go to www.gofundme.com/rescuing-3-kittens-from-crete

If you have a story for The Bolton News, call Newsdesk on 01204 537271 or email newsdesk@theboltonnews.co.uk