LINDA Green (Letters, February 4) has discovered for herself a fact that all the charities working with domestic animals are only too well aware of - this country has a massive stray cat problem.

Ms Green was advised, quite correctly, that her local RSPCA animal centre, Altham, had a waiting list of 360 cats needing new homes and that it was impossible for us to take on the stray she adopted.

RSPCA animal homes in the region are constantly full and have long waiting lists.

When capacity is reached, under the terms of licences granted by the local authority, it is impossible to take in more animals.

The only way would be to put animals to sleep to make way for newcomers.

Altham is licensed for 46 cats and, by law, cannot take in more than that number. The centre staff have been working hard to reduce that waiting list both through rehoming and by transferring animals to other RSPCA centres throughout the country.

Since Ms Green inquired, the waiting list at Altham has been reduced to 200 animals.

The RSPCA does not receive a penny in state funding, relying solely on public donations and legacies to fund our animal welfare work.

We do what we can to find homes for unwanted pets, but we, like any other charity, are limited by financial constraints.

Finding new homes for unwanted pets is only part of the picture. The RSPCA believes that a large part of the answer to the stray animal problem lies in education and responsibility pet ownership.

The RSPCA advocates the neutering and microchipping of cats and dogs to keep the population under control and to more easily reunite lost pets with their owners. All dogs and cats rehomed by the RSPCA are first neutered and microchipped. We also run schemes to help people on low incomes to afford neutering and microchipping.

If the stray Ms Green took in had been microchipped, it might now be safely back at home with its original owner.

LISA DEWHURST, Regional Press Officer, RSPCA North West, Middleton Road, Chadderton, Oldham.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.