A Ukrainian family facing the prospect of having their 18-year-old cat being taken from them on the jubilee bank holiday was told the timing is "rather unfortunate". Michael Rybintsev travelled to Poland in May to fly his elderly parents, Serhii and Antonina, back to west Wales where he's lived for two years.
Serhii, 70, suffers with stage three cancer and is fairly bed bound, his son said. His cat Malyavka, which means “little one”, spends most of her days in bed keeping Serhii company.
The prospect of Malyavka having to spend three months in quarantine, having already spent three weeks at the rented house in Pembrokeshire, brought the old man to tears - the first time Michael had ever seen his father cry, he said. Animal health officials told Michael they would be arriving on Thursday to take the cat. You can read about the Ukrainian family who considered going home because Welsh rules won't let their cats stay with them here.
