A SOUTH Lakeland kennels has stopped giving temporary shelter to dogs in RSPCA care and the charity says there is now nowhere in Cumbria where homeless hounds can be looked after.

Mrs Annette Broomfield, who with her husband, Neil, has run the Glaneils boarding kennels and cattery at Burton-in-Kendal for the past 15 years, says taking in RSPCA strays is now "too demanding," and affects the service they can give to private customers.

"We have put the kennels up for sale and we can't guarantee that whoever takes over will want to take RSPCA dogs," she said. "We have dealt with the charity for the past 14 years, and have homed hundreds of dogs and cats over the years. It's come to the point where we are retiring, the kennels are up for sale, and we've had to stop taking dogs from the RSPCA.

"We've worked very hard for them but we've never been allowed to even advertise that fact. We've never been able to say we take RSPCA animals. It used to be just waifs and strays, but now we can get quite difficult ones as well."

Ruth Pedley, chairman of the Westmorland branch of the RSPCA, said: "This means we are really in crisis. We have nowhere which will take in dogs which are unwanted or ill-treated. I've tried various kennels without any success. If there's a cruelty case and our inspector has to take them away, he now has nowhere to put them.

"The nearest RSPCA kennels are in Blackpool and Preston we have nothing in Cumbria. We've dealt with Glaneils for many years they even built a special set of kennels to deal with our animals."

Mrs Pedley said the charity hoped someone would come forward with the offer of space for up to four or five dogs at a time. Her appeal was echoed by former RSPCA Inspector Alan Green, who has opened a cattery at his home in Oxenholme to help counter the loss of cattery space at Glaneils. "We need someone to offer us permanent space," he said, "and we are willing to pay. We don't want something for nothing."

Lindale-based RSPCA Inspector Nick Welch leant his weight to the appeal: "We need somewhere to offer temporary respite to these animals. Preston and Blackpool are there, but they have their own pressures to deal with."

Neil Broomfield said: "We very much hope that whoever takes over here will take the RSPCA on board."

Any kennels wanting more information about working with the RSPCA should contact Mrs Pedley on 015395-60663.