Anyone dealt directly with a collector before?

Oh gosh i hope they all get out ok...where are you located at? I have a manx poor babys
Lorien

These babies are all in the Kansas City area. Bat Boy is a shoulder rider and Panda Bear couldn't be much cuter!

I didn't make it there tonight (had a call about a death in my family AND an out of town friend showed up for dinner about the time I was leaving) and found out later that the only pulled 7 of the 8 cats - will know the full story tomorrow, but I think she refused to turn in the mom of all the kittens (Camilla). As all this was happening, the woman I went up there with last night, and who organized the group tonight (the president of the Humane Society) found out her grandmother died. What a weird turn of events!

Once they are all settled in foster homes, if you are interested, PM me and I'll be glad to play the middle person in this.

I'm emotionally beat and am already planning on sleeping the day away tomorrow.

They are all beautiful cats! Good luck!

All 7 cats that were pulled last night were negative on the FeLV/FIV tests and 4 of them are spayed/neutered. Foster homes are available for all of them. They are looking at the mom cat situation and will try to return to the house tomorrow. (The husband claimed it was his cat and they couldn't take her, which counters the order).

Yup, I slept half of the day today.

Oh, what beautiful cats. I wish I could help.

What wonderful news that all were healthy, you have found foster homes for all and that 4 were neutered. Yippee!!!

Good luck with the momma cat.

It seems the animals in this story are lucky. But this is the exception, not the rule. In most cases, the animals are killed. If they are not killed, the ones already in the local shelter waiting for homes had to be to make room for them. What a tragedy.

Yes, I have dealt with a 'collector.' She was my aunt. She was not crazy. As a matter of fact, she is a lovely lady who traveled a lot, dressed well and put on a good impression. Her children were normal, well adjusted and did well in school socially and academically. Until the day some busybody decided to call the 'authorities.' Her life was destroyed. She suffered uncontrollable guilt and had a nervous breakdown over the loss of her pets. Her children, (middle school age at the time) who were not harmed by living with 27 cats, were harmed by the humiliation of being caught, the fear, and the sadness. They suffer nightmares to this day, not from the 'cat house' but from the 'authorities.' They trust no one.

The family was destroyed. They had fines they were unable to pay. My aunt had to stay in jail awhile with common criminals. She was never the same. Her husband divorced her because of the trouble. She told me she wished she had died rather than have that happen to her. All because somebody thought they were doing the right thing. So now a family is ruined financially and emotionally, and the cats, who had been happy, healthy (though not all operated on or vaccinated) and much loved cats, who used to sleep on beds purring with affectionate owners, died in fear in the hands of strangers, after being locked in cages and suffering seperation anxiety.

So as you can see, I hate the people who turn people in for having too many animals. The kinds of people who take them in are good hearted souls who have only the best intentions but don't know what to do when things get out of control. What can they do? There is no one they could turn to who wouldn't report them. The only thing they can do is keep the animals, do the best they can and pray that no one will think it's a good thing to ruin their lives by reporting them.

My suggestion? If you know of a 'collector,' 'cat house' or such, and you REALLY care about the animals, and you don't live in a no kill city, the WORST thing you can do is call the 'authorities.'

What can you do?

Go to the person and offer to help. Let her or him know they can trust you not to rat them out. Then call animal rescue organizations to try to find homes for the pets. Most of these people hate your average animal shelter/pound and will do anything to keep them out of those clutches.

The 'owner' will probably want to keep as many as possible. Find someone who can help them with the expense and transportation to the vet if need be.

You could even offer to help them clean the house, or find someone else who will help. ANYTHING but the 'authorities.' I believe if anyone honestly cared about the animals, they would do the things I suggested, or at least give it a try. Thanks for listening.

Blossom I can see why you were tempted into writing on this thread. It does give another side to a 'collector' that perhaps many do not see. I have no experience of this at all but have the stereotypical type in mind - alone, sad etc etc. This is so obviously not true in many cases (yours for example). Maybe this is the problem. Many people on this board live with a large quantity of animals - not only cats. I have learnt that people do not always know where to turn for help and are scared of the consequences if and when they do. It is difficult to stay anonymous when searching for help of any kind.
I am truly sadened by the experiences of your aunt and her family, including you.
I hope you will stay at TCS and wish you well.

Thank you

Blossom, I would have to say what happened to your aunt may be an exception to the rule. I read you post and it is a sad story indeed. But, most of these people who are collectors do have problems, but they are not crazy. Your aunt seemed like she truly loved all her cats and was able to provide a good home for them. But from what I have read and seen, not just on this site, a true collector is most always a person that lives alone, female and has so many cats, that they can not provide good quality care for them. Most of the cats are sick, not spayed or neutered and inbreeding. When the "authorities" come into these homes, they find dead cats, sometimes the dead are put in freezers or just left lying around, the home is filled with urine and feces and most of the time, there is not enough food or water for them. The home usually smells so bad, that you can not even breathe. No, these people are not crazy, like I said, they live alone, are lonely and really feel they are helping these poor cats. But are they really? The answer is no, not when you have cats dieing in the home they live in, because the conditions are horrible. Should someone call the authorities? I say yes!! Not only do the cats need help, but so does the person living there. Letting these poor cats continue to breed in the home and die horrible deaths is by no means providing good care. I don't really believe your aunt was a "true" collector. A lot of these collectors have cats numbering into the 100's, you can not provide care for that many by yourself. She had a family and just loved her cats. I think if she could have called a lawer, she may have been able to get some of her cats back, as long as the cats were provided the good care they needed. No one would take any of my cats from me without a fight, but I have only 8. Yes, I know all about the busybodies, I deal with them every day at my job, because I work for the so called "authorities". But, sometimes when you see things, you just cant turn a blind eye. For the sake of the animals and the person, sometimes you have to call. Unfortunately, for your aunt, it seems like she had a neighbor that did not like her or her cats. Those are the people that need to mind their own business. But when you live near someone and you can smell the odor coming from the home, you know there is something wrong. That is when you need to do the right thing and make a call. This is another good reason to keep your cats inside, in case you live next to one of these busybody neighbors or one that does not like cats. People will do things just out of spite.

Blossom - I appreciate your perspective. In case I wasn't clear on our involvement, we stepped in to do exactly as you suggested. Someone did turn the woman in, she was ordered to get rid of the cats, and her only options were to send them to a kill shelter, animal control, or work with us (no kill fostering). We found homes for all in no-kill settings, am providing neutering for any animal that remains in the house, and ongoing visits to ensure that she doesn't fall back into the trap she is in now. She is unlike your aunt, as this woman had no food in the house, we didn't see a single water bowl, and had waste everywhere. Had no money to vet them, and there was inbreading going on.

I am sorry to hear about your aunt. There are responsible people that simply have a lot of animals. And there is a distinct line between a collector and someone with a lot of animals. Unfortunately most public officials aren't necessarily educated on distinquishing between the two. Also unfortunate, there are folks out there that think they are bettering society by sticking their noses into other people's business when they don't understand the situation.

Thanks to all who felt sorry for my aunt. But I am sad some people really feel the "help" some of these people get is for the best, when too often it only ends in the deaths of the cats and the destruction of the life of the individual. For example, the story of the 95 year old woman whose son turned her in. Poor old soul, how much longer did she have to live? Couldn't she have spent it with her beloved cats? They'd have been taken away anyway when she died, but she wouldn't have known. The story said she was 'in the hands of professionals', what is that, the nut house or the old folks home? Either way I'm sure she was miserable, guilty over cats and hating her son for doing that to her. I hope she never spoke to that creep again. In her case, she was happy, the cats were happy, and she should have been able to live out her life her own way. If she passed away a year sooner than she would have with the "professionals" she'd have died happier and more peacefully. Poor old thing.

The reason I posted this was to bring another side of the issue to light, so maybe people would consider how negatively it can affect someone's life. These are lives, people, and animals, not a pile of junk that can be thrown out. One more thing that upsets me is that 'collectors' are more often prosecuted and condemned than those who abuse animals on purpose through shooting, poisoning, or setting them on fire. Collectors feel they are saving the animals' lives, and knowing they failed in even that devastates them. Like I said, if you really want to "HELP" the worst thing you can do is to get the person in trouble with the law! Offer to help them get out of their situation, or at least improve it, before they get caught. Legal action and monetary fees and fines, and public humiliation on the local news, is the worst thing that could happen, and is not 'help.' Please.

I did also hear just a couple months ago from a friend that their church was asked to go help a family clean up their home. This was a relatively wealthy family, three generations in one large house, with several dozen dogs and cats from attic to basement. They said the family loved them all as pets, and had them all named, even if only by their fur pattern after they ran out of names. This church group managed to move some of the animals outside (they lived on a farm) find homes for others, and clean the place up. But not one person, not one, ran to the cops and ruined the lives of the family and the pets. God Bless them! Bless those of you who have and are really helping people and animals by cleaning and finding homes and care for excess pets.

Hmmm, I think we were a little hard on that 95 year old womans son. He was a creep because he cared about the conditions she lived in? Lets make sure we know the truth. If you heard the story by the media, I am sure it was far from the truth as our news people love to stretch the truth. Maybe the son was trying to get his mother out of a home that was filled with filth. Not exactly where I would want my 95 yo mom to live. Another question, could a 95 yo woman really take care of that many cats? (I am not sure how many she had) But the cats may have been suffering as well. She may not have been taking care of them anymore. I also never heard of anyone prosecuted for being a collector, I don't think there are laws about that, at least where I live. You may be told you have to remove some of your cats however, which I agree, as long as they are WELL taken care for, spayed and neutered, there should be no need. Collectors may "feel" they are saving the animals lives, but more often than not, this is NOT the case. The animals are suffering. All the stories I have heard, until now, have been about a person who lives alone with way to many animals, that they are not taking care of. Dead animals in the home, urine and feces on the walls and furniture, no food to feed them. This is NOT good for any animal. I do not believe that these animals are always destroyed either, the stories I have heard, they do try to find homes. The "authorities" around here even get the local shelters to help. Calling the cops does NOT ruin people lives, PEOPLE ruin there own lives. In the long run yes, if you as neighbors and friends can help someone who has that many animals, that is great. But, the person that you are trying to help has to be willing to admit that they need help. All to often, these people really believe there is no problem. Yes, taking legal action CAN help. In your aunt's case, she may have been allowed to keep all her cats. The city/community where she lived may have had NO legal action to do what they were doing, if her animals were well taken care of and the home she lived in was not a health hazard to the people living there and her neighbors.

Bobcat, where my aunt lived, you were only allowed 4 companion animals. She had 27. For each cat over 4, charges can be brought. Each one that is not vaccinated is an $80 fine each. If they were deemed to be in unhealthy conditions or an unsafe house, the person can be charged with cruelty to animals, which can bring a fine of up to $5000 and a year in prison for EACH charge. (which is why I was upset that more collectors are prosecuted than those who torture animals on purpose. People who have set dogs afire live face the same exact charges as collectors, and that is wrong!)So a "collector" with 20 cats faces large fines and years in jail. The most I saw a person get was 8 years, bu that's a lot. My aunt was released and served no additional time, but the fines and lawyer fees were astronomical. You may say a person ruins their own life and that may be true, but if they are in a bad situation the very last thing they need is some busybody turning them into the law and getting them into deep trouble. I still don't think the 95 year old woman should have been turned in. As I said, she didn't have much time left and would rather have spent it with her cats than being in a nut house or old folks home. Do you really think she would rather live her life laying in one of those places, knowing her son betrayed her and her cats were dead? I bet she'd have rather died in the dirty house with the cats. If the son really cared, he could have just taken her home with him. If anyone meets a collector or realizes they are related to one, they could at least have the decency to confront them with it and, even if they don't help, they can at least give the person a chance to change and clean up their own act before they get into trouble. If the person isn't scared by that and does nothing they are really nuts. But I don't believe that's usually the case. I can't believe anyone would be so cowardly and backstabbing as to turn in a beloved family member, or really anyone, without discussing the consequences or warning them first, unless there was malicious intent, or out for some kind of revenge(which is what happened to my aunt)BTW I read the 95 year old lady story here on this site.

your aunt was the exception as with any rule theres always an exception , I can understand why your angry , but in most cases intervention is for the best ,remember I said most not all. Most people can not afford 27 cats . I have a family member who has 7 cats I sat down and figured out if she was to bring them up to where they should be it would cost her almost 2,000 for all 7 cats , thats out of most peoples reach .

Theres nothing I can say that will make it better for your aunt , maybe her story will make an impact for people who report people when they shouldnt.

Hmmm, this is going no where fast. As I see it, I doub't that the son of the 95 yo woman wanted his mother to get into trouble. I am sure he tried to help and did not know where to turn. At her age, I am sure her son was in his 70's himself. I am sure he didn't know what to do and did what he thought was best. Yes, I agree, there are a lot of people that need to mind their own business, but in these cases yes, intervention is the best for all. Should these people be fined for animal cruelty? No, people need to recognize that these people do have an illness, just like the habitual drunk that gets in his car after having way to many and ends up getting into an accident. Most of these people do not realize they have a problem either. You can tell an alcoholic that he/she has a drinking problem, but until they realize it and are able to admit it, their problem will continue. So, calling for intervention does help. It's not to get the person in trouble, but hopefully get them the help they need. You can clean up a collector's home and find new homes for most of their cats, but down the line, it will start all over again. No, they are not NUTS, they are people who need help. No, I do not like seeing these poor animals suffer, I love my cats more than some people love their kids. But it is not always easy to find homes for 100's of cats at one time. Shelters are stretched to their limits as it is. They need money and food to care for all there animals. If you feel as strongly as you do about what had happened to your aunt, you should get involved with your local shelter. Volunteer to help or donate money and food. I do not have the spare time to help as I spend much time with my own cats, especially Amber, she takes a tremendous amount of my time. But, I do donate a lot of money to at least 3 local shelters. Every little bit helps and gives these poor animals more time to find new homes.
I agree with the cost Dana. It costs me about $100 per month, just on food and litter alone. This does not include vet bills. Anyhow, I am glad to see that the cats in this original story were able to find new homes Sorry that this went in the wrong direction.

In the case of this woman, she was going to be fined by the local animal control for each animal over the limit in this area. Since our shelter has a very good relationship with animal control (we place many of their animals through our shelter), they allowed us time to get in and place them to avoid assessing the fine (and possible legal action).

So, I guess I second the motion to get involved in your local shelter groups. Build relationships with city officials, educate the public on the issues of spay/neuter. You don't think that what you can do will help much, but if everyone turned there backs, nothing would get done.

I will voice my opinion on the 95 year old woman. I have met a number of older people that will not take an animal in because they know if they die, their animals would need to be rehomed and that burden would fall on someone else. I have found that responsible older folks, if they adopt, adopt an older animal, knowing that their time as caregivers could be limited. So, the woman was being irresponsible with her animals, and not really looking out for their welfare long term. Could the situation have been handled differently? YES. But did she need help in placing those cats? YES.

I appreciate the tangent this thread went on. Very insightful observations from all sides of the fence.