SUSSEX, UK – A seven-year-old girl whose mother died in a house fire now faces having to give up the cat she shared with her mom due to a dispute with a housing association.
Kaitlin and her pet Jack moved in with her aunt after the fire back in 2013.
But Jack faces eviction following complaints that he is fouling in hallways in their West Sussex apartment block.
Kaitlin stated she would not be able to recover from the sadness of losing Jack. Hyde housing association said they hoped to come to an arrangement.
An online petition to be submitted to the Hyde Group, called “No more loss for Kaitlin”, has gathered more than 2,000 signatures.
Karine Charrett, Kaitlin’s aunt, said Jack was found just three days after the fire by neighbors.
“It was one of my sister’s wishes that Jack was looked after, so he’s been with us ever since,” she stated.
She disputed claims Jack was urinating in the building and stated: “We always check the hallways at night, we go and check and make sure.
“There isn’t anything. We’d soon know when we come home because you know you’d be able to smell it. You can’t.”
“If he (the cat) went, I wouldn’t be able to recover from the sadness,” Kaitlin explained.
She added that without Jack, she is going to “feel lonely all the time”.
Carol Jones, from the Hyde Group, stated: “We do have a policy across all of our apartment buildings that we don’t accept cats and dogs in those buildings.
“But I absolutely understand Kaitlin’s point of view. Let’s sit down, let’s talk, and let’s hope we can come to some kind of arrangement that works for everybody and is fair for everybody.”