Telford woman's horror as heating pad fire kills four of her kittens
Four three-day-old kittens were killed when an animal heating pad bought by their Telford owner caught fire.
Devastated Belinda Carr claims her own life was only saved when the distressed mother cat woke her up in the middle of the night.
Amazon has now removed the pad from sale.
Belinda, 59, spent £15.99 on a HUAYUU pet heating pad from Amazon to keep the newborn Sphynx kittens warm at her home.
Disaster struck on September 24, the day the product arrived, just hours after the hairless kittens were settled.
Belinda woke in the middle of the night to find the kittens’ mother, Vito, rubbing her face, something the cat never does.
She caught a smell of “burnt sugar” and went to investigate.
The pad and carpet had caught fire and four of the five kittens were dead from the heat. After unplugging the pad and throwing it into the bath, she rescued the one remaining kitten Monto.
Belinda said today: “I’m very angry with Amazon. I have been a very loyal customer for many years.
“It’s annoying they are making money out of items like this. I had a fire many years ago that nearly killed my son. It’s devastating and disheartening.
“It was dreadful, honest to god. Thank God she woke me up, if she didn’t I would have been gone with my house. I’m devastated. I tested it beforehand to make sure it was safe before I went to bed.
“One of my cats started to rub my face. I thought she just wanted attention, so I told her to go to bed. But she kept going.
“I smelt a weird smell like burnt sugar before I turned on the lights to see the heat mat and the carpet was on fire.”
She added: “It’s heartbreaking to see Vito like this. She carries the last kitten, Monto, with her all the time and is constantly looking for the other kittens meowing. She’s heartbroken. It’s her first litter.”
Belinda's son, Chris Gould, 32, also hit out of the company for allowing companies to sell items that don’t meet the British safety standard.
A spokesman for Amazon said: “We are deeply saddened by this incident and are in touch with the customer. The product, bought from a third party seller, is no longer available.
“All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account.”
It has not been possible to contact HUAYUU.