Eloise Horsfield
EXCLUSIVE by Eloise Horsfield
A FRAIL elderly couple have been forced to sell their home after being ‘victimised’ for feeding stray cats.
Bob and Jan Brearley, from Redditch, became the victims of a cruel hate campaign in Torrox, involving threats, harrassment and even dog excrement thrown onto their porch.
So vicious became the opposition to their cat-feeding that they eventually had to sell up at half the value of their property.
“It has been a nightmare,” said Bob, 77, who has been left frail from aortic valve surgery, spine problems and a burst stomach ulcer.
Their problems began after they started giving scraps to a pregnant cat at Camping El Pino, where they purchased a Swiss-style chalet for €28,000 six years ago, before spending a further €12,000 on improvements.
The couple were warned by the management not to feed the cats and were shown a petition which had been signed by their neighbours.
However they ignored the petition as they feared that the mother and her four kittens would die without their help.
“They never threatened us with eviction, and we were certainly not the only residents feeding cats,” added former housewife Jan, 75.
Soon the campsite’s manager began making life difficult.
“He’d come round at 6am on a Sunday morning and stand there shouting outside our front door waving these big cages,” said Jan.
“One morning he caught the mother, and was shouting with glee.
“We never saw her again but we have heard they take them away to be gassed.”
But the worst shock was to come when it came to renewing a contact on the land on which their home stood.
“The boss came and said they were not going to renew it and we’d have to move,” said Bob, a former geography teacher. The couple had just two months to find a new owner and move into a two-bed rented flat in Torrox. “We ended up selling the property for less than half its value at just €17,500,” said Bob.
Cats spread the parasitic disease Toxoplasmosis. If you ignore the wishes of those who live around you, disregard the terms of your lease, antagonise your landlord, facilitate cat excrement all over your neighbours property, then it’s not that surprising you have to move, however old you are. Even in Spain.
“http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19474612”
The little monkey that fell out of a tree somewhere in the Rift valley x number of years ago spreads more desease that all other forms of life on this planet.
The problem is’nt the cat but the vermin who abandon them – why not have a rant against them Ben. I get the feeling your animal phobic – forgetting of course that you are a primate too.
Couldn’t wish for a better resolution than similar action to be taken against my neighbours in England where cats/dogs are God and for the most part totally unnecessary jewellery. Keep it up Ben and ignore the troll
john simpson, you sound like avery obnoxious person, how dare u call someone who dosent have your mentality a troll.
You sir are the only troll i can see.
Usually people who dont like animals are normally not very nice people. so that just about sums you up.
carla this couple are not animal lovers.people like these do animal causes no favours at all.more food more breeding more filth more problems…..simples!
What a vile bunch of comments, how heartless of you all! Why an elderly couple just feeding a cat and her kittens get treated this way is just pathetic. Bob and Jan you should have taken the cat in as your own. How people can get wound up by a few strays is beyond me and yet making this lovely couple’s life so bad they have to leave their beloved home. Shame on you!
The problem is the cats Stuart and the parasite it carries, not animals in general. You’re being fallacious.
Carla you would have a different view if your son had just been born blind because of a Toxoplasmosis infection caught whilst still in the womb. Toxoplasmosis is a leading cause of blindness in worldwide, responsible for thousands of European homeless dying each winter and more thousands of children who are born blind each year due to infections. Cats are carriers of the parasite.
Wow you can always rely on an animal story to generate a few comments so I’ll chuck mine in. It’s only humans who display hatred to their fellow species, it’s only humans who spread like a disease across the planet consuming all the resources before moving on to the next patch. It’s only humans who kill each other for the fun of it and it’s only humans who can spread disease at the speed of light. Animals might carry a disease by accident we do it deliberately.
yes peter! lets put them all down as well?
Peter, pg couldn’t have put it better.
carla you obviously haven’t read Stuart elsewhere. I don’t dislike cats or dogs per se, but expect those that ‘own’ them to look after them and stop them adversely affecting the lives of others who don’t want them. I also qualified my mail to allow that some dogs are useful eg guard dogs, blind dogs and small manageable ones for the aged/infirm who need comfort. As for cats, apart from comforting the elderly, they are toys and should be kept in house or kept down by other means. Mi casa tu casa, no a su mascota a mi mascota
I understand people feeding a few cats but when you are living in an area with rules where your contract can be ended then you need to follow the rules. They were asking for trouble. What I don’t get is why people adopt mad stray dogs in Spain that stop you going to visit them anymore in fear of being bitten. I can’t remember how many English people do this. OK, take a nice stray dog in but a raving lunatic dog that will isolate you does not make sense. On top of that treat it like a baby.
We have 4 cats and 2 dogs..and are well thank you..
the only animal that enoy”s us are the spanjards…no respect for nothing, cruel to animals…always lying..
if you want to talk about harmfull parasites and hygiene….enter any toilet in Spain.
Ooh now that’s not very pleasant and in England would attract a racism charge. If you love animals that much and Spaniards that little then I suggest that if you aren’t already writing from outside Spain you do so.
I have found my Spanish neighbours to be just as pleasant as the British but different in many ways – no harm in that. I hesitate to think how the British would view so many non-Brits accumulated in one area not speaking English and insisting on rights. No wait a minute they do in Bradford, Birmingham etc etc
Animals are filthy wherever they are and also create problems for non-owners which is the issue here
It doesn’t say how many cats they ended up feeding – I know round our parts people end up with too many. What were these people doing that was so bad? There’s worst problems in the world than just looking after a stray cat which is what we do occasionally. Disgraceful comments!
Well they were warned repeatably, and didn’t heed it, if people flout any law regardless of their opinion, then they take their opinion somewhere else !
This is a weird story! there must be more to it…
Torrox Pueblo has many animal lovers, they regularly place food down for the ferrel cats, the sad thing is that they put piles of food in one street up near the school and what happened was the cats came from everywhere to feed and breed, the more they came the more food was put down, it became a problem for the locals because they were pooing everywhere and the kids going to school would have to watch where they walked, I counted 30 cats at one time, they were very pretty cats and its a shame that no one wanted them, anyway overnight they all disappeared, where did they go? I dread to think, but they are all gone now, sad in a way because if the people who put the food down only put a little down to feed those local cats they probably wouldn’t have become a problem and would’ve continued to do what cats do best, and that’s to keep the vermin down.