Our Work
Celia Hammond Animal Trust operates throughout London and the South East helping stray, abandoned and unwanted animals and provides essential low cost preventative veterinary care – neutering, vaccinations and microchipping to pets belonging to low income owners.
What we do
Our Aims & Objectives
Care & Refuge
To provide care and refuge for cats and kittens both feral and domestic and for those animals which on the basis of age, temperament or appearance would not normally be taken in elsewhere
Animal Welfare
To promote the welfare of animals through example and education
Neutering Service
To humanely reduce the population of dogs and cats, both pedigree and mongrel in the UK by neutering, as opposed to the current situation where hundreds of thousands of healthy but unwanted or stray animals are being destroyed simply because there are not enough homes to go around
Low Cost Neuter/Vaccine Fees
To provide low cost neuter/vaccination clinics for animals belonging to people on benefit or those unable to afford private veterinary fees
Low Cost Treatment
To provide low cost treatment in our clinics for sick/injured animals whose owners do not qualify for help from the major charities but who cannot afford private veterinary fees
Emergency Resue Service
To operate a rescue service for animals, both domestic and feral, in emergency situations through calls from the public, local authorities and the police
Long & Short-term Rescue
To provide long and short-term sanctuary accommodation and rehoming facilities for rescued animals
Cruelty/Neglect Investigations
To investigate complaints of cruelty and neglect and to take appropriate action
Non-destruction Policy
The Trust has a strict non-destruction policy unless animals are suffering with a terminal illness or are hopelessly injured and beyond any veterinary help
Rescue Work
At CHAT we provide a vital rescue service for animals in need.
In the areas surrounding our two London clinics – South East and East London we carry out rescue work with stray, sick, injured or feral cats and kittens.
We also respond to requests for assistance from Housing Associations, Council departments, the Police, Social Services, and other charities in situations involving the collection of pets where people have been evicted, died, hospitalised, arrested, sectioned or in other welfare situations.
Our skills working with feral cats and kittens are specialised and were originally developed by Celia about 40 years ago at a time when pest control firms were the normal way to deal with feral cats which were considered vermin in those days.
Our Sanctuary team are similarly busy with the task of responding to assist cats in need in East Sussex and parts of Kent.
Our Veterinary Clinics
The Trust has two Veterinary Clinics, one in Lewisham, & the other in Canning Town.
These Clinics offer low cost veterinary services to owners with pets who cannot afford private veterinary fees and do not qualify for veterinary help anywhere else.
Lewisham Veterinary Clinic
Our Lewisham Branch Veterinary clinic opened in October 1995 as the country’s first low cost cat and dog neutering and vaccination clinic with the objective of bringing affordable neutering and vaccinations within the reach of all pet owners.
Today the clinic deals with a wide range of medical and surgical cases both routine and emergency. We have an emphasis on the charities core work which is neutering, vaccinations, and microchipping.
Canning Town Veterinary Clinic
Our Canning Town Branch Veterinary clinic opened in 1999 as a low cost cat and dog neutering and vaccination clinic with the objective of bringing affordable neutering and vaccinations within the reach of pet owners in East London.
Today, Canning Town is the larger of our two London Veterinary clinics and deals with a wide range of medical and surgical cases both routine and emergency including orthopaedic surgery.
Our Greenacres Sanctuary
The Sanctuary resides in over 100 acres of countryside – a mixture of woodland and meadows, providing a permanent home to around 120 resident cats – cats who for one reason or another have proved difficult to rehome. Resident cats are free to wander in and out of the main Sanctuary house, where our permanent Sanctuary staff live or to choose from numerous cabins and chalets dotted through the grounds. Many of our resident cats are older feral and semi-feral cats whose age leaves them difficult to home.
The Sanctuary also has a 40 pen cattery which houses cats and kittens whilst they await suitable new homes.
Our New Cattery
We have been granted planning permission to go ahead with the much needed re-development of the “Friendly Street” warehouse and former shop at the rear of our Lewisham site to construct a much needed two storey cattery building!
The new cattery will be an indoor cattery with ‘walk in style’ providing 23 new cattery pens to provide a comfortable stay for cats whilst awaiting new homes.
The facilities have been designed to be modern, hygienic and easy to keep clean with a built in air extraction system to combat air borne infections.
A new reception area will mean that we can open seven days a week for potential adopters to come and meet our cats which will help us to increase the number of cats we can rehome in London.
Animals Seeking Homes
We have a large number of cats looking for a loving home. These can be adopted via our Lewisham Rescue Centre, Canning Town Rescue Centre or our Greenacre Sanctuary in Hastings.
Please choose your closest centre and have a look at the cats & kittens available. If you are interested in adopting a cat, please get in touch with us.
Feral and Semi Feral Cats Homing
Our feral cats are ideal for outdoor homes such as stables, smallholdings, farms, large gardens etc. They require daily feeding and dry shelter but earn their keep as an effective rodent patrol.
Our rescue teams usually neuter and return feral cats to continue living where they are, provided they are being fed and have someone to keep an eye on them. Sometimes though cats cannot be returned to site due to redevelopment, demolition, an unsafe environment, no one to feed them, hostile people etc, and for these we seek suitable new homes.
We can rehome to Essex, Surrey, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, and London boundaries. We initially deliver cats in a holding pen to settle them, and provide life-long assistance should it be required – e.g. health care, moving etc.