NO more pets belonging to residents who have gone into care will be placed at Leigh Dogs and Cats Home by Warrington Borough Council (WBC).

The announcement has been welcomed by Social Care Animals Wigan campaign group, which has been calling on the authority to send the cats and dogs to a location 'more reputable'.

In total, 23 dogs and eight cats have been boarded at the site by the council since 2015.

And, between 2014 and January this year, £18,000 has been spent on boarding fees.

The pets are boarded until the service user returns home but, if they do not want the animal back, the pets are rehomed.

Social Care Animals Wigan has been working to 'raise the public awareness' over the home.

A group spokeswoman said: "When Warrington adult social services users go into nursing homes or hospitals and their pets, cats and dogs, have nowhere to go, the council pays for them to be boarded at Leigh Dogs and Cats Home.

"We all know the terrible reputation Leigh Dogs and Cats Home have, so why does the council send animals there instead of somewhere more reputable?"

But WBC has confirmed that it will not be placing any more pets at the site.

A spokesman added: "The council takes its responsibilities for animal welfare seriously and recognises the importance to those that may need to go into short or long-term care that their pets are looked after until they return home.

"In some cases, if those in care cannot return home, animals are often re-homed or cared for by families and friends and the council will assist in appropriately rehoming those animals.

"There is now only one animal kennelled at Leigh Dogs and Cats Home.

"The council has not regularly visited the setting to carry out checks in the last 12 months due to the home falling in another borough's jurisdiction.

"The council is in the process of contracting with an alternative provider to look after animals where the owner has entered care and there is already an alternative arrangement with Cheshire Dogs' Home for the kennelling of stray dogs."

But Leigh Dogs and Cats Home has hit back and said it has recently been the target of a 'hate campaign' on social media.

A spokeswoman added: "Unlike many other establishments, all of our kennels and cattery are inspected annually and included in our boarding licence which is issued by the local authority and, therefore, all of our procedures and kennels are regulated.

"The welfare of the animals in our care is of paramount importance to us and we all take great pride in our work.

"The boarding kennels are completely separate from the rehoming centre, we have never had any complaints from either social services or their clients, in fact some of the clients regularly visit the animals while they are in our care and always appear to be very pleased with the standard of care their pets receive.

"We are unaware of any decision made by WBC – they have not addressed any concerns to us."