Spy: Meow! Real Housewife returning to TV with new show

Cat Lady Anne Batley Burton and friend. Photo / Supplied

Former Real Housewife of Auckland Anne Batley Burton is poised to star in her third TV show - this time about her greatest passion, cats.

Her new show, Call ing All Cat Angels, will screen on Sky 83, where she previously had a panel show Keeping up with the Champagne Lady. It will also be streamed on social media channels.

"Cats have been getting a very rough deal over the past few years and we need a show presenting the wonderful things that cats bring to all of our lives," Batley Burton tells Spy.

"NZ's most loved animal companion is being treated by DoC, conservationists and many councils as pests."

Batley Burton hopes to set the record straight about her feline friends and will have sections that include celebrating Cat Angels, who look out for cats, a veterinary segment, a slot showing how cats enhance elderly people's lives with the companionship, and young children volunteering at Batley-Burton's Cat Sanctuary at her home in Huapai.

Fellow cat crusader Bob Kerridge, formerly of the SPCA, has a section called Bob's View, which will be filmed from the sanctuary.

"Although retired, Bob has continuously worked for the welfare of animals and in particular has been working hard on cat welfare issues," Batley Burton says. "Along with myself and a group of other animal welfarers, we are trying to influence councils towards humane cat management, which is a very difficult task."

She says that during Covid there has been a big jump in the numbers of cats brought into her sanctuary and she fears they would otherwise have been put down.

On Friday night, Batley Burton had her annual fundraiser for cats, where last year she raised $43,000. With a sell-out crowd this year she was hoping to reach $60,000.