I think the shelter is getting overwhelmed.

My cat Christy used to be a foster cat from a shelter I worked at before I moved. I adopted her because we couldn't find any forever home for her, because she is a seven-year-old special needs cat.

I've been thinking about them a lot lately, because I think that even as of a year ago, when I was last there, they were just completely overrun with cats. The rescue is run by one woman, who uses her house for the rescue; and she doesn't know exactly how many cats she has. Around last year, I think she was pushing 80 cats, a half-dozen dogs, some horses...

I keep wondering how she is doing, because last time I was there, the house smelled so very strongly of cat pee, and the carpet was either ruined or had been torn out, and there weren't enough litter boxes to go around. The cats get enough food, and they get basic vet care (she does the vet care herself, gets the vaccines from the vet and administers them), but there was an URI making the rounds last I knew of it, and Christy came home with a stuffed nose and a few fleas on her. Last time I was there the smell was so strong I had to leave after a little while because I was getting overloaded. And she can't seem to say "no" to new cats; last I heard she wasn't having visitors anymore...

It worries me. I don't have the transportation to help out there anymore because I don't have a car and the bus system doesn't reach, but every time I look at Christy I wonder how all those other cats are doing, and whether they're still so badly crowded. Every time I hear of a rescue where they have been so overwhelmed that the cats are starving and sick, I worry that that's going to happen to her and those eighty-some cats.

I dunno what I'm looking for. Maybe advice of some sort, maybe just a place to vent. I'm just plain worried, that's all.

Wow, that sounds to me more like an out of control hoarding problem rather than a rescue. What she is trying to do can simply not be done by one person. The strong cat pee odor, lack of litterboxes, the infections all speak to that.

I am worried too, especially since she no longer allows visitors. That is a bad sign, and to me indicates that she knows she is out of control and is not operating properly. In my opinion, she badly needs to be checked on, to make sure no animals are in immediate danger, etc.

Do you know of any way that someone could check on things? You may actually have to call the ASPCA or someone if it's as bad or worse than you describe.

Sorry this is weighing on your mind.

Cally

I would have to call someone and voice my concerns and have her checked on, for the welfare of the animals as well as her own.

I think you know you have to act. I could go into stories, gruesome real stories of what can happen. But, I'm sure you know. Just a couple days ago a woman in my area was sentenced to 30 months in jail for the horrible crimes she committed against the animals she was supposedly protecting.

It isn't an easy thing to do, but it wil be much harder on you if you don't act and the animals are suffering.

Please keep us informed.


Robin

One of my issues is that I can't get there to see whether things are going okay. I haven't been there in a while. For all I know, I would be causing trouble and even hurting the cats. On the other hand...

If it's a legitimate rescue, the animals will not be harmed by having the authorities investigate. This isn't something that you need to take on by yourself. Perhaps you can call it in to your local ASPCA. I turned in a local pet shop some years back. Turns out, it was a horrible place, and was soon closed.

Please call someone, ASAP. And please keep us posted.

I honestly don't know who to call. As far as I can tell, the "ASPCA" is a New York-based organization; I'm not in New York. Is there a database of possible numbers somewhere? Ideally, I'd want to do this anonymously; and I wouldn't want any kind of criminal charges. What she really needs, most of all, is a place for about sixty of those cats to go, so that they aren't crowded any more; and maybe some help with learning to say "no" to new cats. She's not an abuser. She genuinely loves cats. And I'm very, very sure that this is just a case of being overwhelmed with too many--not some kind of selfish desire to stockpile as many cats as possible.

I think you should watch, today online, some episodes of the show "Animal Hoarding" from Animal Planet. The people are not evil. They are well intentioned. But things get out of control and the people are in denial or just don't know what to do. This problem may be a psychological disorder.

Please contact whatever animal welfare organization that is working in your area - before it is too late.

Robin

Where can I find that?

Try here: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/confe...imal-hoarding/

The "Lisa" episode deals with cats.

And here's an article on hoarding itself:

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/confe...y-hoarder.html

Good luck, and I hope you can get this resolved. Please keep posting with updates, I'll try to help however I can.

Upon further viewing, I've also seen that Debbie, Yolanda, Stacy and Mike hoard cats. I haven't found a way to search the videos by the type of animal hoarded, though.

Wow... uh. Her situation is worse than half of those people they are calling "hoarders"... The one lady who has 30 cats, and who keeps the house clean despite that... I mean, that might've been her about ten years ago. Now, with about eighty... She's just so overwhelmed. If we could get about ten people in there, full-time, to take care of the cats; and a proper shelter building, then it would be fine. Notably, as of last I checked, any cat older than about six months was neutered; and that is a major plus.

There seems to be a lot of talk of "getting rid of" cats. As though you could just point at them and make them evaporate. They're not garbage; they're living creatures. Where do the cats go when you "get rid of" them? What do you do with the sixty cats who don't fit in the house? There seems to be a lot of people just angry at their family members for liking cats more than people; and personally, I think liking cats more than people is not necessarily pathological, as long as neither people nor cats suffer as a result.

There needs to be a middle ground. Those cats are valuable creatures, and they do matter, and it is important to make sure they are taken care of. You can't just automatically solve the problem by removing the cats. It's like this show is all about, "If only you got rid of the cats"...

*sigh* Okay, I have two cats of my own. And if somebody told me to "get rid of" them, I'd probably hit the person or something.

I ain't doing anything unless I know those cats have somewhere to go.

Maybe you didn't watch all the way through? Animal rescue organizations are called in to take the overflow, or some, of the animals, as much as the person is ready to do. Some situations the authorities are forcing the removal of most of the animals. Sometimes they show follow-ups of where the animals go.

This isn't about what families or other people think or say. Nor is it about liking cats more than people or people more than cats. The cats are helpless in these situations. They need help. The people need help.

I like cats more than people. That's why I am so worried about the cats in the dangerous situation you describe.

Robin

How about going to visit VERY soon and seeing how the conditions are? I'm sure you can find a way.

People do get so overwhelmed with this that the animals starve to death. It's a horrible, painful way to die.


Robin

No car; bus system doesn't reach... I'm kind of marooned here. That's another issue--I haven't been there in a year or more. I'm only thinking about it now because I checked online on the petfinder site, where I helped post lots of adoption ads, and I can only see a couple of new ones; the new ads show a rather dirty background but I don't know if that's just chance.

Last time I got an e-mail from her she mentioned that she had gotten a cat adopted out but that it'd been the first that year (that was in April). I have been thinking about it lately, because of Christy... I checked online on her petfinder profile. There are only about 25 ads, so most of the cats are apparently not up for adoption, or she doesn't have the time to put up their pictures; either way is a bad sign.

But she is still letting people take cats. So it's not like, she just keeps the cats and never adopts them out. She just seems to be taking in more than she adopts out, and that adds up.

There's another thing; my adopting Christy is really only a verbal agreement, and it seems she still has Christy's ad up... so I guess she might technically still own Christy, which might be somewhat of a problem. I have vet records and stuff for Christy, but I never paid an adoption fee...

You can anonymously let the animal welfare authorities know of your concerns. Then they can check. Maybe everything is fine. Then you can be reassured, relax, and know you did the right thing.

Really, the welfare of the cats needs to be the primary concern. Doing nothing can't be the right thing.


Robin

There are an awful lot of people who automatically think "hoarder" if someone has more than about ten cats, even if they are well taken care of. Theoretically, you probably could have about twenty or thirty cats in a house that size and have them happy and healthy. I mean, there are people around here at TCS who do have twenty or so healthy, happy cats in clean homes. In a no-kill shelter, they often are crowded that closely. There's a very real risk, because of the way people assume that "many cats" equals "crazy", that this could result in basically shutting down a legitimate, though overcrowded, shelter.

I guess the question is... Just how much overcrowding is the result of stupid people not spay/neutering; and how much is "I can't turn away another cat"?

It's like, you think, "Well, I already have twenty; twenty-one won't be much more crowded; and if I don't take in this cat she'll die..." and then before you know it twenty-one is eighty, and eighty-one isn't much worse than eighty either... She was really behind on the house cleaning last time I was there; I helped her clean out a bedroom; it took all day and it was piles and piles and piles of things, which really makes it worse because of all the stuff. If there was less stuff it might be easier...

There are a lot of positive signs, though.
They are spayed/neutered.
They get basic vaccinations.
She's willing to adopt them out.
She can afford food for them all.

What worries me isn't, "This is a horrible situation right now" (it isn't; it's nowhere near what you read about in the papers, with two hundred cats and twenty of them dead).. It's more like, "This situation is only somewhat bad, but doesn't show signs of getting better."

I guess, if someone knew who to talk to and would be willing to do that, that would be okay... but if this thing ended in a bunch of cats being taken to the shelter and euthanized, I really don't think I could live with myself. These are cats I've personally met. They're anything from shy to gregarious and demanding, they've all got their own little personalities. Heck, you guys know. They're cats. It's never "just a cat".

...and now I'm rambling. Yeah.

Dangit. Why couldn't I just have kept on not thinking much about it? You'd think a year's time would have left me forgetting it, but here's Christy being her sweet fuzzy self and I keep on wondering what happened to the other cats she left behind.

This is a tough situation for you. I fully realize this.

You really don't know what the current situation is. That's why someone needs to check.

Surely you must know someone who would drive you over there? A taxi? Someone who you know who still is in contact with this woman and goes there? How did you know she wasn't letting people in? That's a VERY bad sign. How long ago were the ads put in Petfinder? If she is not letting people in, how can people adopt cats?

Do you know for certain she has enough money to feed the cats?

You are worried. You need to find out for sure that things have not gotten out of control.

Robin

You can't stop thinking about it because your conscience is nagging at you.

I'm sure you know the saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I'm sorry, but if everything's fine, having someone check out the situation won't hurt. If everything isn't fine, the cats need help. The authorities may already be aware of the situation.

As Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

This is NOT the same as calling animal control about a feral cat in an area that practices trap and kill.

All you need to do to start is call your local police. Ask them how and to whom you report a concern about a cat health and welfare situation.

Originally Posted by Callista

There's another thing; my adopting Christy is really only a verbal agreement, and it seems she still has Christy's ad up... so I guess she might technically still own Christy, which might be somewhat of a problem. I have vet records and stuff for Christy, but I never paid an adoption fee...

Click to expand...

I really doubt this woman would even consider reposessing your kitty, Christy anyway. I am sure this woman has taken on many, many more cats than she can possible care for properly. Her heart is much bigger than her "mind", you know what I mean..... She just can't say no and probably really is in way over her head and might even appreciate some assistance with all of these poor cats ..... I would do something here, for sure