A CAT that offers comfort to trafficked women and is “terrified of men aged around 30” is feline fine after winning a national award.

Seven-year-old black and white mog Marley, pictured, resident of Caritas Bakhita House in Victoria for four years, scooped the Cats Protection “cat of the year” prize.

The service, established in 2015, is a safe house for women who have been enslaved, exploited, or trafficked and since its opening the centre has provided accommodation for 195 women and 16 babies from across the world.

Karen Anstiss, who helps run the scheme, said: “I’m so proud Marley has won National Cat of the Year. He’s a wonderful example of the power of love. Often Marley placing a gentle paw on a guest’s legs is the first kindness they’ve experienced in years. He has this incredible gift of empathy, knowing instinctively who needs him. We adopted Marley four years ago and I think he’d suffered abuse as he is terrified of men aged around 30.

“So he recognises our guests’ trauma. One woman was in such distress she couldn’t speak to us, only to Marley.

“But, because she trusted him, over time we were able to build a bridge and reach her.

“Marley is also staff supervisor, and security guard, patrolling the grounds. And chief gardener. Nobody is allowed to touch his patch of daisies.

“In art therapy he’s a popular muse and one guest even composed a song for him. At 7pm staff and guests sit down for dinner together, like a family, and Marley joins us. He’s the fluffy heart of our home.”

The centre also assists women with bringing perpetrators to justice, and has helped to secure a total of 218 years of prison sentences.

It is currently home to 11 women aged between 22 and 70 from 11 different countries.

Marley was awarded the Cats Protection coveted award, National Cat of the Year for his work in providing comfort to these women who seek to rebuild their lives.

Originally Marley was nominated for the “Incredible Cats” award, and received the most votes for his category. He was then additionally given the title of National Cat of the Year by the judging panel for his outstanding services at Caritas Bakhita House.

The ceremony was held on Wednesday and the Cats Protection award was presented by novelist and self-confessed cat lover Dawn O’Porter.

Ms Porter’s own Siamese cat Lilu died in 2020, but remains in a chair in her dining room after being “freeze-dried”. Writing in The Guardian in 2022, Ms O’Porter explained: “I had her freeze-dried, a process where she was dehydrated using extremely cold temperatures over the course of 10 months, preserving her perfectly to look just as she did on the day she died. And now she sits happily, but 100 per cent dead, on a chair in my dining room.”