Co-founder of Cork cat charity avoids jail for gambling away €27k of donations

Owen Collins has repaid this money in full, but the animal welfare charity Cat Haven has been de-registered

The court heard that €19,600 of funds went into Owen Collins’s online gambling account prior to Cat Haven being registered as a charity in February 2018. Photo: Cork Courts Limited

A founder of animal welfare charity Cat Haven was sentenced for stealing €27,500 paid to the charity in donations for food and shelter for lost or unwanted cats and kittens.

32-year-old Owen Collins of Mountain Barracks, Mitchelstown, County Cork, gambled all of this money – mainly through his Betting 365 online account.