ANIMAL lovers on the Fylde have reacted with sadness and dismay to the news that the RSPCA's animal home in Blackpool is to close.

The Longview Kennels on Division Lane, Marton, announced this week it was to shut down after a recent appeal failed to raise the £43,000 needed to keep the centre going.

This closure will mean that nine staff will be made redundant and the 80 animals presently at the centre have to be re-homed by May next year.

At Fylde-based animal sanctuary Cat Rescue, workers fear they will be swamped with animals in need of care.

Spokeswoman Christine Ashton described the North West as a "black spot" for animal care and told The Citizen: "We have already had a bad three weeks because the RSPCA has not been taking animals in. We are not coping as it is, so when the RSPCA pulls out God help the animals."

She said the news came as no surprise. "It's been on the cards for a long time. The question to be asked is why are the headquarters not bailing them out? Why isn't the Fylde branch with all this money helping them? I could never work out why the RSPCA Fylde branch had so much money and yet Blackpool had none."

An RSPCA spokesman for the North West explained that Fylde branch was an independently run charity who raise their own money to deal with their own area's needs. He said: "The Fylde branch have provided a lot of help and support for the Blackpool centre by helping out with costs and helping to take care of their animals.

"I am sure they would like to help Blackpool out more, but they also have to consider their own costs and needs."

Blackpool's branch chairman Les Jones said: "This has been an agonising and heartbreaking decision for the committee to make.

"None of the trustees ever wanted it to come to this but we unanimously felt that there is no other workable alternative available to the branch.

"We will still assist with veterinary care requirements of animals and will play more active roles in RSPCA projects, including neutering and micro chipping.

"We will also continue to provide and fund temporary accommodation and re-homing of animals.

"As our finances improve we will be able to do much more."

A new branch development plan will also be drawn up by the RSPCA for Blackpool in the very near future which will promote the new methods which will be implemented throughout the area to replace the duties that were carried out at the centre.