The B.C. SPCA has seized almost 100 cats from a Vancouver Island home where officers also discovered dead cats and kittens in a freezer.
Shawn Eccles, Chief Animal Protection Officer for the agency, told ctvbc.ca they received a call to investigate the Nanaimo residence from a bailiff who was evicting the renter from the property.
In total, 47 cats and 47 kittens were removed, many requiring immediate veterinary care.
"The animals were living in a horrendous hoarding situation and the interior and exterior of the house were littered with garbage, debris and old household items," SPCA Const. Tina Heary said.
"Several of the cats and kittens had found access into the walls, into the ceiling's insulation and through holes into the staircase and chimney, making it very difficult to locate them and take them into custody."
The felines are now in SPCA care across Vancouver Island, including Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville and Comox. The owner is asking for the cats to be returned to her.
"Some animals were in distress so we're investigating," Eccles said.
"I'm concerned that she wants the cats back. Officers have concerns about the living conditions and we have had some prior knowledge of the individual for past investigations."
Veterinary teams from the SPCA would like to do an autopsy on the dead cats found in the freezer, but are unable to legally remove them from the home.
"We don't know how they passed away, and we're not able to take them and do a post-mortem and we didn't have a search warrant to enter the home," he said.
Animal hoarding
Eccles says the woman under investigation has the classic symptoms of an animal hoarder, someone who starts off with good intentions of taking care of a large number of animals, but gets overwhelmed.
"One of the classic symptoms of hoarders, and this is very similar to a lot of animal welfare rescue groups, is that they start out with the best of intentions."
"But it's costly and eventually what you find is these people continue to receive animals, don't shut their doors and they absolutely don't believe anyone could care for them the way they could. And then they continue to breed and you're looking at a lot of cats."
The felines will be held at Vancouver Island SPCA agencies until an investigation is completed. The sudden influx of cats has overwhelmed the agency, which receives no government funding.
"When you have a few cats or a dog that's one story -- but this is almost 100 cats," Eccles said.
"The outrageous thing is non one is paying for this. The bailiff is not paying us; the landlord is not paying us. The cost should be paid by the owner, but if she has no money then we're stuck with it."
