VERONICA BRUCE cannot pinpoint a time when she started to rescue animals. "I've rescued cats and kittens since I was a child," she explained. However the interest may have begun, it has developed into a life-long passion and has earned her well-deserved respect for her work with animals. Feature writer KIRSTY RAMSDEN spoke to the person townsfolk affectionately dub the "Cat Woman of Wotton".

WHILE we chat Veronica Bruce is interrupted by a steady stream of callers - all on animal matters.

However this, she explains, is a relatively quiet morning.

The Wotton-under-Edge woman's work gives new meaning to the term full-time.

She is on call 24 hours a day seven days a week.

She can be called about an abandoned animal any hour of the day or night, weekends or bank holidays.

But her work cannot be regarded as a job - it is indeed a passion which she does voluntarily.

A Wotton woman born and bred, she moved into her present home about 30 years ago. This house and gardens was to become the base for Wotton Animal Rescue.

Miss Bruce, now 55, gave her home the title about 20 years ago when her efforts were directed towards cat rescue.

Calling the centre "animal" rescue opened the flood gates to different types of creature.

And now, although Miss Bruce mainly rescues cats and dogs, creatures as varied as rats, snakes, sheep and horses have been through her gates.

While the rescue centre was a relatively small operation, Miss Bruce ran an industrial cleaning company.

But eventually she began to concentrate all her time on the centre. This can include responding to calls in the early hours or feeding tiny kittens every two hours through the night.

Although she can get a call in the early hours of the morning or be called to rescue a creature from the most terrible of conditions, she does not intend to retire.

She said: "It is just in me. I wish we didn't have the tragedies but there is no way I could stop doing this."

A recent bout of ill health may mean her slowing down a little but she certainly has no intention of stopping.

She laughs that a fortune-teller her told her when she was just 17 that she would live to 94.

Although the centre carries the "Wotton" tag, Miss Bruce's net stretches far and wide.

She has rehomed animals to as far afield as Jersey and once rescued 220 rats in Cornwall.

Her aims is to rehouse the rescued animals as quickly as possible - although this is not a task done lightly.

She makes a home visit before rehousing and then likes to make follow up calls after the animals have settled.

If the animal is being rehoused a long way away she will take references from vets.

As well as providing a shelter for abandoned animals brought to the centre, she is frequently called out to rescue creatures.

Her rescues, especially those in unusual circumstances, have earned her a lot of media interest but this is something she takes in her stride.

She is well-known for rescuing feral cats, taming and then rehoming them. She said: "If they aren't taken in we will be over-run by them." She insists she never has animals put to sleep.

Even the sickest of animals will receive the best treatment possible before she makes the decision to have it put to sleep.

Although the animals are her first concern, Miss Bruce admits her work has shown her the very best and very worst of human nature.

She fumes at the people who abandon pets to go on holiday or to make way for a replacement puppy at Christmas.

She dreads bonfire night. This is not just because animals are frightened of the fire works but because it marks the start of people abandoning their older pets ready for a cute little puppy or kitten at Christmas.

But Miss Bruce delights in those kind-hearted people who truly love their pets.

To fund the work of the rescue centre, Miss Bruce must do a lot of fundraising and marvels at the generosity of people.

She said: "I always get worried that people will get fed up with my fundraising but all the towns are wonderful for fundraising."

Pictured: Vernica Bruice with a rescued kitten.