Just thought I'd give a mention to Cats Protection UK. You can find their site at http://www.cats.org.uk/.
If it hadn't been for the Cats Protection League (as they were called at the time) Buffy would have been a dead kitten sealed in a cardboard box on a rubbish tip with her 5 brothers and sisters. I hope the person that did that is haunted by it.
We got Buffy from Cats Protection when she was 6 weeks old and she's thrived ever since. Has a particular liking for cardboard boxes though. Wierd, all things considered.