<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr">Courtesy of BBC News at:<div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">(complete article . . . with photos)</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div style="display: block;" class=""><div style="-webkit-user-select: all; -webkit-user-drag: element; display: inline-block;" class="apple-rich-link" draggable="true" role="link" data-url="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-64850648?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark"><a style="border-radius:10px;font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;display:block;-webkit-user-select:none;width:300px;user-select:none;-webkit-user-modify:read-only;user-modify:read-only;overflow:hidden;text-decoration:none;" class="lp-rich-link" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-64850648?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark" dir="ltr" role="button" draggable="false" width="300"><table style="table-layout:fixed;border-collapse:collapse;width:300px;background-color:#E9E9EB;font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" class="lp-rich-link-emailBaseTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="300"><tbody><tr><td vertical-align="center" align="center"><img alt="_128856007_cats2.png" src="cid:5093E637-336F-4B86-923A-93263FC0E2A7"></td></tr><tr><td vertical-align="center"><table bgcolor="#E9E9EB" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;table-layout:fixed;background-color:rgba(233, 233, 235, 1);" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:8px 0px 8px 0px;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStackItem"><div style="max-width:100%;margin:0px 16px 0px 16px;overflow:hidden;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:500;font-size:12px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;text-align:left;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack-topCaption-leading"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-64850648?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark" style="text-decoration: none" draggable="false"><font color="#000000" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);">Visitors read stories to Shropshire charity's retired cats</font></a></div><div style="word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:400;font-size:11px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;text-align:left;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack-bottomCaption-leading"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-64850648?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark" style="text-decoration: none" draggable="false"><font color="#A2A2A9" style="color: rgba(60, 60, 67, 0.6);">bbc.com</font></a></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><span></span>————————————————-</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><h1 tabindex="-1" id="main-heading" class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e1fj1fc10" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSerif, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 2.75rem; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.090909; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20);">Visitors read stories to Shropshire charity's retired cats</h1></div><div dir="ltr"><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">A cat charity has opened its doors and invited visitors to read books to some of its elderly residents.</b></p></div></div><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Shropshire Cat Rescue said it wanted to encourage a love of reading and to give its cats some extra human interaction.</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Volunteer and trustee Susie Phillips said the cats "respond well" to being read to and it also gave nervous readers a "calm and peaceful" audience.</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Saturday was the first time it had offered the opportunity to visitors who were not in school groups.</p></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The charity plans to do it again in April and Ms Phillips said it wanted to do more to help children or adults who are struggling to read.</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">"We're helping people discover the passion of reading through the love of cats," she said.</p></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The visitors were reading to the cats in the charity's "retirement village" in Bayston Hill, Shropshire, where the oldest resident is 22 years old.</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Other cats have suffered from illness or injury, but Ms Phillips said: "Even the nervous cats tend to come forward and want to interact.</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block" class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: ReithSans, Helvetica, Arial, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 36.25rem; caret-color: rgb(20, 20, 20); color: rgb(20, 20, 20);"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">"They enjoy that extra company."</p></div></div></div><div dir="ltr">————————————————-</div><div dir="ltr"><br><span>Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span><br><span></span><br><span>"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span><br><span>http://www.MoscowCares.net</span><br><span></span><br><span>Tom Hansen@</span><br><span>Moscow, Idaho</span><br><span></span><br><span>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</span><br><span>- Roy E. Stolworthy</span><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>