The steelworks cats

Many of the steelworks , and I imagine other large and small industrial premises had many cats around to keep rats and mice under control.

Back in the sixties there were plenty at the old Vickers works on Brightside lane and Hawke street and over time they would be rounded up by the Rspca . Many of the cats were treated as pets and if word got round that the Rspca were around many of the cats would be caught and hidden from veiw until the search was over .

Anyone remember them.

Many of the steelworks , and I imagine other large and small industrial premises had many cats around to keep rats and mice under control.

Back in the sixties there were plenty at the old Vickers works on Brightside lane and Hawke street and over time they would be rounded up by the Rspca . Many of the cats were treated as pets and if word got round that the Rspca were around many of the cats would be caught and hidden from veiw until the search was over .

Anyone remember them.

An old joke used to be that if anyone worked excessive overtime, it would be said that " he gets more hours in than the firm's cats"

He was not a steelworks cat but when I worked at the Abbey Glen laundry there was a cat called Jasper who did a similar thing in keeping the Rats down he was massive infact he was one of the biggest cats I've ever seen.

There's still a few cats around River Don Works, especially in the ladle bricking shop.

Since I volunteer with transport for vet visits and the like, I can tell you that pretty much every industrial unit still has cats that live in and around them, keeping down the number of rodents around the place. These days they're less likely to be fed and managed by the factories and works though, so they end up being looked after by a charity that manages feral colonies instead.

Cleansing dept at Bernard Road used to have several that were quite tame.

They were fed and I remember taking one to the vets when it was ill.

At Brinsworth Strip Mill in the early eighties lived several almost feral cats. One day one of the technicians, Harry Batch, decided that as he had a few mice at his Brinsworth home taking one home would solve the problem. There was one particular cat, a tom, that had shoulders like Mike Tyson, who spent most of its time in and around the store at the end of the Electrical motor room, that Harry decided to recruit. After several attempts to lure the cat into various traps, he decided that brute force would be the only solution, so he donned overalls and thick furnace mans gloves. He carefully approached the cat, who after being picked up decided that captivity was not his favourite pastime and began biting the hands that were trying to feed him. Even though these gloves were the thickest and strongest available the cat had no problems in biting through them and drawing blood. Obviously the cat went free and Harry went to the medical centre for dressings to be applied and for a dressing down from the nurse. The accident report form suggested issuing each technician with a tin of cat food!

To follow is the tale of how the Fonze tried to wash the same cat

I remember my old brother in law worked at Dumford Hadfields on Claywheels Lane telling me they had a feral cat there that,if someone left the cabin door open it used to get in and eat ther snap.So he decided to try and trap it.He left some food out one day and waited for it which it duly obliged,so he slammed the door shut and shouted 'gotcha'.Big mistake.The cat went beserk,bouncing off the walls and ceiling.He had to hit the deck and open the door to let it out...hahaha

I remember my old brother in law worked at Dumford Hadfields on Claywheels Lane telling me they had a feral cat there that,if someone left the cabin door open it used to get in and eat ther snap.So he decided to try and trap it.He left some food out one day and waited for it which it duly obliged,so he slammed the door shut and shouted 'gotcha'.Big mistake.The cat went beserk,bouncing off the walls and ceiling.He had to hit the deck and open the door to let it out...hahaha

Cats love warmth and unfortunately some slept in large motor windings at Brown Bayleys and when the motor was started !!!!!!!!!! At Barnsley market they fed the cats starvation rations so that they stayed but hunted.They were wild

There used to be several groups of feral cats at the NGH that kept the rat population down when they got rid of them in the 80s the problem returned quickly and lots of money then spent on trying to do the same thing.

I used to work at Daniel Doncasters on Penistone Road, and there was a family of black feral cats there. Beautiful creatures they were too. The office workers used to feed them. I don't know whether the firm is still open now though. I left shortly before it was sold to new owners.

Oh yes, cats come very well armed indeed, and have sharp bits on 5 of the 6 ends, all of which they are prepared to use if they are scared. Feral cats are truly wild animals and they have no experience of being handled by humans so it's not like they are likely to cope too well with being picked up or trapped.

When they are trapped to be neutered or have vet attention, they are trapped and then the trap is moved wholesale into an enclosed place so that they can be moved to a carrier or crate and got to the vets. I've been bitten through gauntlets and kevlar more times than I care to mention.

I repeat- these are not house cats. Please don't treat them as such.