A story in last week's Mid Devon Advertiser series about the financial plight of a Newton Abbot animal rescue centre has sparked an international media frenzy and a flood of worldwide activity on social networking sites.

The article resulted in offers of help which appear to have secured the centre's future.

Last week we reported that Claire Hardwicke and her husband John were struggling to find money to pay bills at their Decoy Kitten Rescue. Reduced to tears, she told us the future looked bleak for both the centre and the kittens.

Nine-year-old Lauren Hamlyn had her long blonde hair chopped to raise vital funds.

The world's media followed our lead. National dailies soon had their versions splashed across pages and websites – even the foreign press picked up on it. Within days a search for Decoy Kitten Rescue on Google returned almost 30,000 hits.

But despite the good news that the centre's future had been given the kiss of life, not all the media reports have been praised.

Mrs Hardwicke responded angrily to claims in some papers she had said the kittens could be put down within the week. She also denied speaking to one daily newspaper which carried quotes attributed to her.

Some people who read the inaccurate stories began making cruelty claims and questioned the Hardwickes' motives. Social networking site Facebook carried thousands of messages from across the globe, most offering support.

Mrs Hardwicke responded to those who had stood by the couple saying she and her husband 'wouldn't have coped with all of this nasty press stuff without you'.

She added: 'Please don't doubt us. We are genuine caring people and have been struggling to keep our rescue afloat through the recession; all rescue centres are in the same boat, it's not just us.'

'We have always been open and honest and will continue to be so.'

The Advertiser's role was noted by Laura Oliver, editor of the online press website http://www.journalism.co.uk">www.journalism.co.uk and who is examining how the story was handled.

She said: 'The nationals seem to have put their own unique take on the story which is being challenged by the owners of the centre who say that the Advertiser's story is about the only accurate one out there!'

All the kittens in Mrs Hardwicke's care are now thought to have been offered homes.