Etobicoke Humane Society overwhelmed with cats

[attach]1959[/attach]A recent rash of cat hoarding in Etobicoke has left the local humane society overwhelmed, and unable to accept any more felines.

According to cruelty investigator Jerry Higgins over 100 cats have been rescued from unsanitary conditions so far this year, which is a massive increase from the usual average of one or two each month.

In June, the society removed 21 from a home of a woman who considered herself an animal rescuer, but was unqualified. All of those cats had ear mites and none were spayed or neutered.

Since then, another two cases surfaced, each involving a mentally ill person, and each with 13 cats. Higgins said in every case, the cats were not spayed or neutered, and most of the time, were malnourished.

The biggest case came back in February, when between 48 and 50 cats were taken from a single location.

All of the cats that were rescued have been taken to Etobicoke Humane Society (EHS) where they have been treated and nursed back to health. But with the large volume of felines, the shelter, which is run entirely on donations and volunteers, is at capacity and has been forced to turn away cats on a daily basis.

“We are reaching out to the public,” Jennie Grado, cat shelter manager at EHS said, adding that all cats available for adoption are on their website.

“Anyone who calls in (for adoption) we are responding to very quickly.”

Higgins said he doesn’t think there’s a trend of increased cat-hoarding, but the attention hoarders have been receiving that is causing
more people to report them.

“I have good reason to believe the past two were a result of media coverage,” he said. “So people saw something in the paper and said ‘Oh, I know someone who has 13 cats, maybe I should call.”

Not all of the calls are necessary, though. In fact, Higgins said about 80 percent of phone calls are just malicious, and do not require cats being rescued, while the remaining 20 percent are actually of concern.

While there are bylaws restricting the number of felines one person can have in a household, if they are all in good health and the home is extremely well kept, then there is no reason to take the cats away, Higgins said. Even so, Higgins still suggested that three or four cats is the highest manageable number for most people.

There are two important things people can do to ensure their cats are healthy, Higgins said.

“The key is to have them spayed or neutered, that’s number one,” he said. “The second part is when you have cats, just take care of them. Keep their litter boxes clean.”