Harwood: Earl's Farm couple open doors to cats rescued from Ukraine

David and Karen Yates hope to house up to 48 cats on land they occupy on Earl’s Farm on Stitch-Mi-Lane, Harwood, a farm that has been in Mr Yates’ family for generations where they are currently facing down an eviction order from Bolton Council.

The site is already home to a well-loved cattery and the couple hope to put it to good use taking care of pets fleeing the Russian invasion after a conversation with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mrs Yates said: “Obviously we wanted to help so we had a chat the other night about how many we could accommodate.

“So, what we decided to do is have one unit for the Ukrainian cats and one for the regular customers.”

David and Karen Yates

Mrs Yates explained that her and her husband decided to open their doors to the cats after being contacted by Defra earlier on in the crisis.

After a video call with government officials they were given the go-ahead to board Ukrainian cats for a minimum of three months.

They will then be reunited with their Ukrainian owners who have also being fleeing the war in their homeland.  

All together the couple have made a total of 20 chalets available for the cats.

The couple aim to take in up to 48 cats

Despite the eviction order from Bolton Council the couple have been able to keep their cattery open for business for regular customers as well as for housing the Ukrainian cats.

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Mrs Yates said: “We had to make sure we had all the arrangements in place and that we had a new filing system for all the documents that the cats coming in from Ukraine will need.”

She added: “We had to make sure we were ready for them before they were transported here because they’re in such desperate need.”

The cats are set to start arriving from Ukraine this week.

Bolton Council has said it is not able to comment on ongoing legal matters.