A north Waikato woman is calling for tougher regulations around boarding kennels and catteries after she found her cat hanging dead from a galvanised chain-link fence.

Pokeno woman Helen Vance booked her nine-month-old Siamese cats, Lula and Sailor, to stay at the Beaver Road Pet Hotel in Bombay over the long weekend of Auckland Anniversary.

This was the second time Vance had booked her "babies" into the cattery since their first visit when they were five months old.

SUPPLIED Helen Vance would like to see regulations put in place surrounding pet hotels and boarding establishments.

"I didn't have any issues at that point," Vance said.

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On the morning of January 30, she went to collect her cats from their enclosure with Beaver Road Pet Hotel owner Peter Abbott, but instead of being greeted by her cats, she found one stuck and unable to free itself.

SUPPLIED Helen Vance considered her two siamese cats as her babies.

Lula's head had gone through the 50 millimetre galvanised chain-link fence.

"She was hanging backwards," Vance said.

Lula's brother Sailor was there too, "crying madly" for his sister to respond.

RUWADE BRYANT/STUFF Owners of the Beaver Road Pet Hotel, Peter Abbott and his wife Janice, were absolutely distraught when they found Lula in her enclosure.

"I was excited to pick up my babies. It was complete excitement to devastation in a matter of seconds - it wasn't something I was ever expecting to see."

Abbott rushed to the cat's aid, but he was unable to free Lula.

Abbott then found some wire cutters and freed the lifeless feline, while Vance picked up Sailor and took him into the reception area.



"After what felt like an eternity of wailing, clutching and apologising to Sailor, I took my two babies home - Lula dead in a cardboard box, and Sailor staring and crying madly in the carry crate."



She said that the lack of regulations in the cattery and kennel industry was to blame for Lula's death.

RUWADE BRYANT/STUFF The enclosure where Lula and Sailor were being kept has been temporarily repaired with wire ties until Peter Abbott replaces the fence with smaller galvanised chain-link.

"Ignorantly, I didn't know or understand anything about wire regulations and I didn't think I needed to. This isn't about Lula, the industry needs to change."

According to a spokesperson from the SPCA , there are no specific regulatory tools in place that pet hotels are required to comply with.

There are however Codes of Welfare for cats and dogs, but these "do not provide specific conditions that apply to pet motels or boarding establishments".

"The problem is that a range of conditions and operating protocols for boarding establishments are not covered in the current applicable odes. For example, the SPCA would like to see conditions related to provision for an identification of vulnerable animals, minimum care regimes and training requirements for staff "

Abbott, has owned the Beaver Road Pet Hotel with his wife Janice for 19 years. They've had the same 50mm wire mesh fence in place since they first opened the business.

"We have been operating for a very long time, and we have never had this problem," he said.

"It was awful, just physically awful - it was a nightmare, I couldn't believe it."

But he too believes that cattery and kennel regulations need to be put in place.

"There is no doubt about it, the industry, just like any other industry, would benefit from some kind of regulation," he said.

He has promised to re-cover two enclosures with a smaller 25mm galvanised chain-link fence after the Easter long weekend and has promised not to house any kittens, or smaller cat breeds until the alterations are complete.

"This then greatly increases safety and security when [we are] faced with boarding both younger or smaller cats, eliminating any chance of a repeat of ... accidental death."

Abbott has also promised to compensate Vance for her loss and has offered to finically help Vance find a replacement for Lula.

"We just hope that over time, Helen can come to terms with it, and hopefully she can find a nice replacement, although we understand it will never be the same."