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STV News
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- STV News
A bitter row erupts in the world of cat shows
ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi reports on Britain's feline feud Words by ITV News Senior Producer Rachael Allison A growing dispute between rival organisations has shaken the UK cat show scene. There have been cancelled events, refund complaints and calls for calm, in what some are describing as 'catty' drama. Cat shows are becoming increasingly popular, offering owners the chance to exhibit their pets and compete for prizes. But recent cancellations and online rows have raised questions and left some customers feeling frustrated. Steven Meserve runs Loving Cats Worldwide (LCWW), an organisation that hosts cat shows in fourteen countries. But three of LCWW's UK events were recently cancelled, leaving customers asking for refunds, but getting little responses. Dozens of people who were scheduled to attend events in London, Bristol and Belfast contacted ITV News to say they hadn't received their money back. Meserve says the shows were called off due to an online campaign against him, which he claims caused reputational damage and financial strain. Meserve told ITV News, 'We are refunding on a rolling basis and to the best of our ability. 'But we don't have any revenue. There's no revenue. 'I'm doing everything I can to rebuild what I built after I was decapitated.' Earlier this year, Kate Sheppard bought tickets to attend the LCWW show in Bristol, only to find the show had been cancelled, and her refund still hadn't arrived four months later. Kate told us: 'The tickets were £30 each, there's two of us so £60. 'That's not a small amount, especially with the cost of living crisis 'You put your trust in people and for it then to be just taken away and not returned, it's not fair, it's not right.' She's one of more than a dozen people who contacted ITV News to say they were still waiting for refunds following the cancellation of three UK events run by LCWW. Cats at the Loving Cat Worldwide show / Credit: Kelly Makdissy, a former colleague of Meserve's, is now among his critics. She says she too is owed money by LCWW. Makdissy now runs her own cat shows, but denies that her own events are designed to copy the format. She also denies any involvement in an organised campaign against LCWW. 'It depends how you look at it, for me it's not a copy cat because all the show rules are different. 'To be fair I wouldn't want to copycat LCWW, here we have actual members that are cat breeders from all different aspects of life.' 'I think cat shows should really continue,' she said, 'It's an upcoming thing and people are learning about it.' Meserve strongly denied any mismanagement, and says attempts to discredit him are part of a coordinated effort to undermine his work. With around a quarter of UK households owning a cat, the potential audience for cat shows is large. But the sector has yet to reach the profile of dog events like Crufts. 'Dogs get all the money, dogs get all the accolades, Crufts is huge.' Meserve complained. 'There is no Crufts for cats. 'We are the equivalent to that – and that's where we will be. 'We're growing one city at a time.' The charity Cats Protection has warned that while many owners enjoy showing off their pets, the events can sometimes be stressful for animals. For now, though, the tension seems to lie more with organisers than the cats themselves. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
ITV News
25-06-2025
- ITV News
Fast tech: Handheld fan sales take off as waste soars
New research found that Brits purchased a staggering 7.1 million mini-fans in the last year alone, ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi reports Words by Consumer Producer Rachael Allison As temperatures rise, so too does the UK's obsession with handheld fans - but experts are warning that these cooling gadgets could be harming the environment. New research from Material Focus - a charity behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign - found that Brits purchased a staggering 7.1 million mini-fans in the last year alone. Demand for the devices is climbing fast, with Google searches for mini-fast up 16% in May compared to the same time last year. But what happens when the sun sets? A staggering 3.4 million handheld fans are already sitting unused or have been binned - part of a wider issue known as FastTech: small, cheap electrical items that are increasingly treated as disposable. Over a billion FastTech items are bought in the UK each year, double the number from 2023, with over half ending up discarded. Consumer expert Professor Cathrine Jansson-Boyd draws comparisons to fast fashion: 'FastTech is growing as quickly as fast fashion and is going to have a similar negative impact, as it ends up in landfill and has a detrimental environmental impact.' But, despite the swell in consumption habits, there is still optimism that the cycle can be broken by shoppers. Charlotte Blockley, a TikTok tech reviewer, said: 'I don't think people should be disposing of these because you could be using them year after year. 'Some of mine I've had since 2023 - there is no need to dispose of them after you've used them for one summer. 'Just pop them in a drawer, a cupboard or whatever, and get them out the next summer.' Material Focus advises people looking to throw products away to head to one of the UK's 30,000 drop-off points for electrical recycling. Find your nearest recycling drop-off at Recycle Your Electricals.
