People feeding "Iceland Cat" are "killing her with kindness"

Tuesday 16 August 2022

Guernsey Animal Aid has urged islanders to stop feeding a cat who spends its time around St Martin's Iceland, saying people are "killing her with kindness".

Jess, better known as the "Iceland Cat", is on a veterinary prescribed diet which is being hindered by well-meaning members of the public feeding her in the St Martin's shopping complex. "Continuing to feed her could be very detrimental to her health," said the charity.

In a social media post, the charity said: "There are still some people that continue to feed her, and most recently someone thought it was a good idea to purchase a packet of ham and give it to Jess. This involved a vet visit at her owners expense."

Pictured: Jess is around 13 years old and spends a lot of time around the Iceland shopping complex in St Martins.

Animal Aid Founder, Sue Vidamour, said that Jess "enjoys the hustle and bustle around Iceland, Healthcare Pharmacy, HSBC and Goodies". 

"Jess has been hanging out at Iceland for a few years now, and although we are fearful of her getting run over in the car park, there is nothing we can do. She loves the busyness of it all and the only way to stop her is to have her as an indoor cat which would make her very miserable indeed," she said. 

The social media post highlighted the financial impact on Jess' owners, who face "unnecessary veterinary costs" if people continue to feed her. 

Animal Aid volunteer, Marianne De La Mare, lives near to the complex. 

"I keep an eye out for Jess. She used to come through the top of the car park through the footpath, but that was closed off and she now walks down Les Camps du Moulin which is a cause for concern," said Mrs De La Mare. 

Pictured: Guernsey Animal Aid have had to post "numerous times" to ask people not to feed Jess. 

Mrs De La Mare continued: "It is worrying that so many people are feeding her. It seems that a lot of people think they are the only one feeding her, but that is not the case.

"As well as the person who gave her an entire packet of ham, there are people who will give her half a bag of Dreamies [cat treats] or other food.If Jess isn't hungry, she won't go home."

Pictured: Someone recently fed a packet of ham to Jess.

Mrs De La Mare said islanders petting Jess should also be aware. 

"People get a lot of enjoyment out of petting Jess, and she seems to like it too, but there are times where she might get fed up. It's a very busy area and there could be 100 people a day stopping to pet her.

"She is a very friendly cat, but there have been times in the past where Jess has lashed out, so people should be aware of that."