Gosport Cats Protection name kitten after 'secret founder' who has died aged 93

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A kitten has been named after the ‘secret founder’ of a cats protection charity who has died.

Cats Protection’s Gosport Town Branch was founded in 1982 by Hazel Alexander and daughter Debbie Marshall – but husband and father, Alec Alexander, has always been by their side along the way.

Alec died on 3 June at age 93 and it was decided that one of the branch’s tiniest kittens was given his name to carry into the future.

Kitten Alec was taken into the branch the day after Alec Alexander died.

A Gosport group of cat welfare volunteers has recognised the sad passing of its ‘secret founder’ by naming a recently-rescued kitten in his honour.
Pictured: (left image) Alec the kitten and (right) Alec Alexander and Debbie Marshall. — A Gosport group of cat welfare volunteers has recognised the sad passing of its ‘secret founder’ by naming a recently-rescued kitten in his honour. Pictured: (left image) Alec the kitten and (right) Alec Alexander and Debbie Marshall.

At eight weeks old, the young black-and-white cat was brought in after being cared for by a member of the public who found him at Fareham Reach Business Park and hand-reared him and his siblings Alice and Arnie but was unable to keep them.

Once the trio are old enough the branch will find them loving new homes and share the origin of kitten Alec’s name with his new owners.

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Kate Stapleford, branch co-ordinator, said: ‘At the branch’s 40th birthday celebration in July last year, Alec remembered that Hazel and Debbie had nothing more than a cat trap, a foster pen and a £200 start-up grant from the charity’s headquarters when they started.

‘However, what he didn’t tell people was that he built the first foster cat pen by converting a shed in their garden, so we often think of him as our secret founder who preferred to stay hidden from public view but was very much a core part of the branch from its earliest days.

‘Alec would always say that Hazel was really the grand star and that she’d do anything she could to help cats. Again, he was modest and didn’t mention the considerable part he played supporting his wife and daughter with the cat work.

The cat welfare group supports cats and kittens in the area and they take in cats that can no longer be cared for.

For more information about Cats Protection’s Gosport Branch and the cats that are currently in its care, visit the website by clicking the link or alternatively you can contact the team by calling the branch on 07825 592 921.