TWO NORTH-East cat lovers have set up only the second sanctuary for Persian cats in the country.

Lynn Mulholland's passion for Persians began six years ago when she bought her first one. Now she's got another 34 pedigree chums roaming round her house in Ouston, near Chester-le-Street.

With her business partner, Pauline Wright, she decided to set up a charity for mistreated and abandoned Persians based in Bedale, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

Lynn takes care of cats with medical or behavioural problems, while Pauline houses them prior to being re-homed.

The pair were moved to start up the charity, St Francis Persian Cat Rescue, after seeing so many of the cats, which cost £300 each, suffering through owner neglect.

Lynn, who also works in a Stanley building society, said: "The problem is that most people don't realise what they're taking on when they buy a Persian.

"They are long-haired cats so they need grooming every day and they need to be shaved quite often when their coats get too messy and matted.

"They cost a lot of money to buy and a lot of money to keep. To put it another way, I spent £18,000 on cat bills alone last year, all out of my own money."

Last year Pauline re-homed more than 200 cats - a process both Pauline and Lynn take very seriously.

Lynn explained: "By the time a cat's ready to be re-housed we've had it fully vaccinated, neutered, de-fleed and its teeth have also been cleaned - in other words, we give it a full cat MOT.

"Because the new owners are basically adopting the cat from us we assess if they are suitable for the cat, and not the other way round. We know our cats are perfectly healthy when they leave here."

With the only other Persian sanctuary based in Dorset, Lynn and Pauline say the unusual nature of their charity means they have yet to get any major funding, and are appealing for donations or sponsorship. Anyone interested in sponsorship should contact them on (01677) 470344.