A COUPLE are devastated after an animal shelter refused to give back their new pet kitten and have called for its policy to be reviewed.

Gillian Jeynes became ill and falsely believed she was allergic to Suzy, a cat her and husband Frank had just adopted, and so gave the pet to Worcestershire Animal Rescue Shelter.

However, her GP then confirmed she had a lung infection which was unrelated to the cat – but on attempting to reclaim Suzy was told it was against the shelter’s policy.

Mr Jeynes said he offered the shelter £350 in compensation, but it refused as the couple had signed a Conditions of Acceptance making the shelter the cat’s legal owner.

“There seems to be no logical reason why they cannot have taken a more considerate approach,” said Mr Jeynes, 78.

“We were dumbstruck that we couldn’t have her back – I, in particular, had developed a strong bond with Suzy.”

The couple, from Great Comberton, near Pershore, had adopted two kittens in August – Suzy and her brother Oscar – from a shelter in Stratford.

However, after a couple of months Mrs Jeynes, 75, began to feel ill and believed her asthma was being triggered by the pets.

Mr Jeynes said they soon found a family who wanted to adopt Oscar but could not find a suitable candidate for Suzy, so she was given to the Malvern-based rescue shelter.

The couple had owned cats previously and Mrs Jeynes had never had any health issues before caused by keeping pets.

A week or so after signing over Suzy to the shelter last month, she visited her GP who confirmed the cat was not to blame for her infection.

However, in an email from shelter manager Claire Tregunna, seen by the Worcester News, Mr Jeynes was told: “Suzy has now been signed over to our care.

“You signed the paperwork, meaning Suzy is now a WARS cat for us to care for and find her a new home.”

She continued: “Even if you paid for the care whilst with us, or a rehoming fee, as Suzy is our cat, it would not be right to rehome to you due to the asthma.

“You yourself said that this was causing your wife to be unwell.

“This would also be very confusing for Suzy being passed around a couple of times in her young life.”

In a follow-up email, Mr Jeynes said he believed there is “room and a very good cause for reviewing policy on just this one occasion on humanitarian grounds”.

He said it is “heart breaking” for the shelter to not let them have her back “based on policy rather than real life and how much we have grown to love her”.

“She became part of our family, please let us have her back,” he added.

The shelter has now confirmed with the couple that Suzy has been adopted by another family.

Speaking to the Worcester News, Mr Jeynes warned anyone in a similar situation to re-consider because signing over your pet to a shelter means you are “not going to be left with any option”.

Worcestershire Animal Rescue Shelter were unavailable for comment when approached by the Worcester News.