At Least 700 Cats Seized

The new sanctuary is is Columbia County.

Where is this information coming from? Is the investigation over? Has she been sentenced or fined yet? I can't imagine that her case is over. Surely when it is all over she will be on probation and I'm sure she will never be allowed to own animals again or at least a restricted amount.

Does anyone know where Pennie's new sanctuary is in Gilchrist county?

Notice how the reporter says "If Madison County Commission has their way that will soon change." The statement was in reference to how many cats Craig claimed to have. Now he's saying 600. I find it interesting that Willoughby says Caboodle Ranch is currently under no violations when CR is in violation of four county ordinances that I've previously pointed out. 1. Cats not wearing rabies tags 2. Cats not wearing tags identifying who their owners are 3. Cats roaming on others property without their permission and causing a nuissance. 4. Owner must have proof of all rabies vaccinations for every cat.

I watched the county commission meeting on the new ordinance and it was obvious based on the discussions that the ordinance was created in response to the issues at Caboodle Ranch. Noticed how cats were mentioned on a couple of occasions. It seems as every other authority and commissioner knows that there is a problem at CR except Animal Control. Once again, I believe he is being very lenient for some reason or another.

It's sad that Craig will not set aside his own selfish needs and put the interest of the cats first and adopt them out. What legitimate sanctuary has a goal of owning 1,000-3,000 cats? What legitimate sanctuary does not adopt out? I know...A hoarder. He's spent so much time and money into making the place look like Disney World when the number one priority should be the saftey of the cats. FACT 1: Experts have been telling him since early 2009 that he needs to better isolate sick cats. However, sick cats are still intermingling with healthy cats. FACT 2: Coyotes have been an issue since day one and the cats are still not protected from predators. Shouldn't the saftey and health of the cats be number one priority?

I've been heavily involved in this case and have done tons of research and have lots of documents that I haven't shared as to not jeopardize the lawsuit. The case is so complex and it goes very deep. I can say that Dale has only skimmed the surface of this case. In the end, I guarantee you Caboodle Ranch won't be around. It may take six months. It may take a year. But it won't last long.

On June 30, WCTV.TV aired a segment on a new county ordinance that will limit the number of cats/dogs allowed per acre in Madison County. Craig Grant of Caboodle Ranch was interviewed as was Jamie Willougby, Animal Control Officer of Madison County. Jamie Willoughby said that "there were no enforceable issues at Caboodle Ranch." To view the clip, go to WCTV.TV/floridanews/headlines/Madison-County.

On June 27, a Madison County judge heard a request by a defendant in a defamation suit brought by Caboodle Ranch. The party wanted to be dismissed from the case. The hearing was short, was attended by attorneys for Caboodle and the defendant, and the judge. The request was denied and the defamation suit is on-going. Papers, including shot records and photos, submitted by Caboodle were accepted. It is totally false that the defamation suit was heard and Caboodle lost.

Your post shows you to be trully ignorant and uninformed.

Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary = where MORE than 700 cats were rescued - some from cages, some from inside, outside, and DEAD IN THE FREEZER - is STILL ADVERTISING WITH THEIR WEBPAGE - havenacres.org !!!

THERE IS STILL AN EMAIL - THEY ARE ASKING FOR DONATIONS - THEY STILL HAVE "KITTENS UP TO ADOPT" - WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?????????????????

Penny Lefkowitz's profile is GONE FROM FaceBook! BUT NOW THEY HAVE A MYSPACE!

Again - these folks will be criminally charged - it is 1 of the top 3 "hoardings" in history. HSUS is working slowly - and in my opinion, so is ASPCA - I mean HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO WATCH THE VIDEOS TO KNOW THE TRUTH????

Kittens left to GO BLIND FROM THE SMELL OF AMMONIA FROM CAT URINE; KEPT IN CAGES; FED?, WATERED? NO LITTER SEEN! AND EVEN WORSE....

THESE 2 HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR; THESE DEFENSELESS GENTLE CREATURES = PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GIVE 'EM A DIME! It's all a SCAM!

Craig Grant had filed a lawsuit against Gary Conley, Carolyn Logan, and Pam Jonnason for defamation. The court date was today and Grant lost the suit. As part of Conley's defense, his laywer (Lucas Taylor) requested numerous documents and Grant could not produce them and as a result loss by default. Some of the multiple documents that were requested were documentation on every single cat Caboodle Ranch has ever taken in, proof of veterinary care under the Order to Show Care by the court, and every donation made to include monetary, food, buildings, furniture....anything. Conley will be countersuing for cost of lawyer fees. What is interesting about this case is the fact that Grant could not produce the documents which is evidence that he does not have records on all the cats, therefore he is unable to provide care for and insure saefty of the cats when he has no idea of how many cats he has. If he is this irresponsible with the cats, imagine what else he is irresponsible with..

The site for the Madison County Commissioners Meeting of 6/15 is:

Google MadisonCountyVoice.net.
On the right side of the page, are a list of topics you can open.

Look for County Commissioners Meeting video, posted 6/16/2011.

I thought the lady from another sanctuary did a good job with questions, but I wondered where any requirements were going to be developed, such as # water stations, space, shelter, etc. I suspect this ordinance is a work in progress and will take some time to flesh out. They also didn't address what would happen to animals should a shelter have to be closed. All that should be included before a vote. It's all very nebulous now.

Dana, if you don't want to continue a discussion, don't ask me any more questions. Problem solved.

Where's the video of the county commission meeting?

Dale. I don't care of ur opinion of caboodle ranch. My problem is that u insinuate that our photos and videos are staged and our testimony is false. But u know what...I'm tired of discussing this with u. I don't have to prove anything to u. I know what I saw. I have photos. I have tons of documents. So as far as I'm concerned this discussion is over.

RE: Dana's comments. You question the amount of time I spend defending Caboodle, concluding that I must have a vested interest, or a personal relationship with Craig/the Ranch. I spend the time supporting Caboodle because I am retired, have lots of free time, and am a Caboodle fan. I recounted earlier that I had taken 2 cats to Caboodle last June. I met Craig, but did not meet Nanette or anyone else connected with the Ranch. Again, re: my March visit. I was in Fl for vacation and asked if I could visit one afternoon. When I got there, I immediately jumped in to help. I cleaned water features, held cats, helped with Bunker, a sick cat, and was enthralled with the work being done. I asked if I could stay longer, and was told I could. I imagine I was accepted because they trusted me to be honest about helping the cats. When they said I could stay, I was thrilled and didn't question it. That is the extent of my "vested interest." I saw something I thought was terrific and am willing to stand up for my opinion.
Why would my eye witness account be less credible than yours? Why would the eye witnesses who comment on the guest book and in private sites, such as The Good Luck Duck, be less credible than your sources? The original UFl document you cite is about 2 years old. Improvements have been made and are always being made. I saw the new barns and now see the photo of the FIV barn up and running.
I said your photos and videos could have been taken anywhere. Just because they are dated, doesn't prove they were taken at Caboodle. If they were, again, the context is missing. Did the cats just get there in bad shape? Did they just see a vet? Were they going to a vet? You can not tell, but we're asked to make a judgment.
I watched the streaming video version of the Madison County meeting where they discussed the ordinance limiting animal numbers. Jamie spoke that he had a good working relationship with the sanctuaries in his district. You want to cast more aspersions on him again?
You keep telling people to educate themselves before they comment, but what you really want is for people to accept your version of truth. If they question it, you assume they are ignorant or uninformed. I support Caboodle. I'll help it physically and financially, when possible. How terrific it would be if all the energy being spent to destroy Caboodle could be used to make it the best cat sanctuary possible.

Dale, Caboodle Ranch states that it is not accepting volunteers and visiting hours are only on Saturdays from 2-4. So how did you manage to spend several days there unless you have a personal relationship with Craig? Anyone that has a personal relationship with him is going to, of course, have nothing but good things to report. Therefore I find that your opinion of Caboodle Ranch is uncreditable. You spend too much time on the internet defending Caboodle Ranch to not have some type of vested interest in it. We only see that from those who are affiliated with CR. I do spend a lot of time as I witnessed horrors and feel that a higher power sent me there for a reason knowing that I would not back down despite threats of lawsuits or get worn out of fighting due to the amount of emotional energy and time it has taken to save those cats. It is also my duty to warn the rest of the world about the conditions I saw before they send cats to caboodle Ranch. You say that our eye witness accounts are false yet we can back up our claims as we have documents and documents, evaluations from independent agencies, photos, videos, etc. All you have is your own testimony. Where is your proof that everything is as you claim to be?

The other similarity is that they are both hoarding cases. We have pictures of Caboodle Ranch that are just as disturbing as ones from Haven Acres. Animal Control inspections mean nothing. Two weeks prior to the Haven Acres raid, the animal control officer wrote a favorable report. You know why, hoarding cases are a lot of work for them and it is not uncommon for them to look the other way. There are emails from animal control to others that the animal control officer cringed when Grant first came to him letting him know of his intentions of housing hundreds of cats because that meant more work for him. The March report was NOT a surprise. Want evidence of that then order the docs from animal control. The December report was scheduled as well. There have been many incidences other than Haven Acres where animal control looked the other way. In addition, I trust the assessments done by a well-renowned vet from U of FL and HSUS far more than an animal control officer. Animal control has no knowledge of animal medicine. What does he know about diseases in cats? Did he take blood samples? No, he wandered around and claimed he only saw 3 sick cats. IMPOSSIBLE. Anyone who has experience with managing large groups of cats know it's impossible to have only 3 sick out of hundreds. The shelter I volunteer at has less than 50 and about 20 of those are in isolation or foster care at the moment. And they are much more diligent than Grant in medical care. In animal control report, he simply looks at a stack of papers and says Grant had papers on the majority. How is he to know that? There is no individual identification system for each cat. Did he bother to match up each cat with each paper. The answer is no as it would have taken hours. That report is so lame and has so many holes in it. Basically the officer just recited everything Craig told him. Anyone without blinders on would see that.

I am disappointed you would compare the Haven sanctuary and Caboodle, just because they both harbored cats. I watched the Haven video, and because in March I spent many days at Caboodle, I can confidently say the two are not at all alike. The similarities are, as you state, that they are both in Florida, and both are cat sanctuaries. Animal Control, which gave Caboodle a positive review in March, says there are few complaints about cats near Caboodle. Also, people leave cats because they think they will be cared for, and they are. People do come back and find their cats. The only cats that are caged are either sick, or newcomers. Caboodle has nothing like the filthy caged animals shown in the Haven video. Craig is dedicated to his animals, works 12-hour shifts every day. How many people would leave their job and home to live in the woods with nothing more than a sleeping bag and some cats? That's how it all began.

It's also disappointing that people would spend energy to try to destroy Caboodle instead of helping it to grow and improve. I saw the beautiful new buildings, the new infirmary, the FIV barn. The cats have plenty of food, water, shelter and vet care. I spent about 4 days with Bunker, who according to the vet, was dying of liver disease and had stopped eating. Craig gave fluids, and asked me to gently hand-fed Bunker throughout the day. I held and comforted him, and after 4 days, he started eating on his own. The latest picture of him that was sent to me shows a healthy, happy cat. Cats with terminal diseases do not suffer agonizing, slow deaths. They are cared for,and made comfortable. Some do survive, and they would not have done so in a shelter. I live in NJ, but based on my wonderful experiences at Caboodle, I will be happy to go back and help Caboodle whenever practicable. I want it to grow and flourish.

I am sorry to let you down. But if you knew the families, I assume we met at some time. My apologies for mistaking you.

I was good friends with Lyric and thought her mom was cool. She took us to horse shows and let us just hang out and be girls. And yes, I remember her in my younger years. Whats wrong with that? When I was having a hard time with my mom and stepdad, she would have my over. I am sorry you side on the bitter side. But really. Each to their own.

Why are you still going there? Your perplexing!

As we can all see you side with Pennie, and really thats enought for me to know. I am involved with cats in a diiferent way. And would never support here, no matter what history , if any I had.

Now I know your stance and clearly your ways about bad talking people, who are not even involved. I am done with you! Enjoy your phone calls with your lost friend, Pennie. She may need you in this time of stress she has created. Best wishes to you. I dont need to prove who I am, Lyric knows where I am and thats all that matters. I dont banter with people of your kind.
Hope you go volunteer to make up for all your mean words and unkind ways. Otherwise karma will do its deed one day. Be nice person. The rest of us are.
God Bless you,
Lori Maddox

Why does Penny Lefkowitz still have her Facebook page up and running with information about HAVEN ACRES?

And why is their webpage - havenacres.org still up and running? BOTH SHOULD BE DISABLED! What if people send in $ or try to adopt? These people haven't been prosecuted-YET..And even though the Lefkowitz's have applied for a "temporary" revocation of their Cat Shelter (HA!) license - not everyone knows!

THIS IS ONE OF THE TOP 3 ANIMAL ABUSE/NEGLECT IN HISTORY! DISARM THOSE PAGES FB AND the URL called HAVENACRES.ORG! No One Wants to see FAKE pictures and info on Haven Acres when the REAL STORY IS ON YOUTUBE.COM... EVEN THOUGH SOME OF THE CATS ARE MISSING-OH, THEY WERE DEAD IN THE FREEZER! (PER HSUS ON YOUTUBE VIDEO!)

PER ARTICLE ABOVE - Re: Feral Cats and Penny...
FERAL cats CAN BE ADOPTED - easily! Up north in the freezing winters with snow on the ground and farmers who refused to feed their cats (said they had to eat the mice or GET NOTHING!) found us. We took them in as an older cat brought by kitten after kitten...We ended up w/5 and they ALL lived to be well over 15 years! SO GO CRY TO SOMEONE WHO THINKS YOU "MAY" HAVE A BRAIN IN YOUR HEAD! I DON'T!

Lyric, first Debbie O isnt my name. Im not Pennie. I have no computer and have to use a friends. I havent seen you since before you moved to Alabama after Gemini Arabians went under.
You were too young to remember me now, but I did live in Alachua and knew both your mom & dad and Pennie & 1st husband.
You give yourself away when you refered to your mom as "his sweet first wife" No one that knew your mom would ever have called her "sweet" except her child who is still viewing her through a childs eyes. I had not spoken to Pennie in many years till this story broke, I called and talked to her about 2 hours. I didnt know that she and your dad were married and have been for 23 yrs so not sure where you get "new hubby".

I STRESS to keep this about the cats and not slander the people who tried to help them.
They are devastated and are concerned that Animal Services will kill any cat that is not considered suitable to be a pet as they had many ferals that ran loose in behind the fencing. Also had a dedicated pen for the cats that were positive to live out their lives safely just being cats.

Extensive research on animal hoarding by Hoarding Animals Research Consortium:
http://web.archive.org/web/20131206152140/http://www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/abthoard.htm

What is the difference between hoarding and sheltering or rescuing?

"Animal hoarding is a complex behavior that results from a variety of psychological and behavioral deficits that may limit a person's ability to care for themselves or others. Although hoarding may start out as a seemingly benevolent mission to save animals, eventually the needs of the animals become lost to the person's needs for control. The resulting compulsive caregiving is pursued to fullfill unmet human needs, while the real needs of the animals are ignored or disregarded. Sometimes hoarders act as individuals, and other times they masquerade as animal rescue activities. They should never be confused for these legitimate and worthwhile efforts.

Any legitimate shelter, rescue or sanctuary puts the needs of the animals first, recognizes when capacity to provide care is exceeded, and takes the required steps (stopping intake, increasing adoption, increasing staff or resources) in order to provide proper care. Two model sanctuaries show what is required to put the needs of animals first in a caregiving setting [Click here for Best Friends Sanctuary] and [Click here for Farm Sanctuary]. Both organizations encourage visitors, volunteers, and transparency. The diagram at the right illustrates the difference between competent caregiving and substandard care.

Several sanctuary associations publish codes of ethics, and the Association of Shelter Veterinarians is developing guidelines for standards of care. The Cat Fancier's Association, a national trade group for cat breeders, advises breeders who may be facing difficulty providing proper care to contact them for help."

I highly recommend anyone wanting to learn more about the complex nature of hoarding to visit the above website.

Well Hi Debbie...or wait...is it Pennie? Sorry to let you down, but its Lori.Ya know,Gloria and Rons daughter. The one that grew up around ALL of you. If you dont recall, my aunt was our 4-H leader for the state. I would post my full name, but I see there are some not nice people attacking others on their facebook accounts. Sorry to let you down.

If you are Debbie, perfect.Say hi to the inlaws for me. I remember your inlaws always having stray cats show up on their place...but wait! They took them in and fed them...but always adopted them out.hmmmm. The same with those stray dogs. Hmmmm

If you are Pennie...lol....First: for an overwhelming past as yourself: such as in the horse world (failed) and now the cat world(failed). Tread lightly with your lies. I am unlucky enough to have known you and your last hubby, your new hubby and his sweet late wife, was good friends with Lyric, and even met your kids twice or maybe three times!

The sad part is: Me, my mom(Gloria) and stepdad had to run far away from you due to watching the abuse. And my mother never let me see you guys another day. On the other hand, we helped take care of Lyric in the days her mother was waiting for her heart and lung transplant and following her transplant. And NO, she was not a liar or mentally ill. Maybe depressed. Bless her heart, she was dying, even after her transplant, and leaving two kids. And YES: I guess your right about one thing. Her medical condition and heart and lung transplant DID make her physically ill. WOW!

Funny you seem to stray from the topic on this board. THE CATS!!!!

Giving us useless information will not change the fact that we have a situation here that was created by two people, and now we need to fix it FOR THE SAKE OF THE CATS!!!

Soooooo, are you going to keep up your ranting, or are you going to go this weekend to help at a shelter, Caboodle Ranch efforts, or a real rescue? hmmmmm

Why are you trying to distract the readers with invalid misinformation. The last two posts ask you the same, yet you have not responded. That has been a strategy Pennie has been using everywhere. What have you done to help out the situation? Or did you help hender it? We would love to hear so that we can learn from you!

Buts let stay on task here. Whoever you are, and I know both names. we dont care about your junk.
WE CARE ABOUT THE CATS!!!

I agree. What many people here on the blog here are commenting about is the aftermath and future of the cats, along with how they got to the postition they are in now. Have you been to the site and have pictures and video to perhaps give us another spin on the situation?
Because all we are doing, is dealing with whats at hand. And that appears to be the truth.

Before you start turning this into another personal thread or agrueing with someone, just bring forth the info the supports your theory.

Otherwise, those who are sharing their thoughts about the site and their own take on it-is valid.

You sound like you personally know these people, as someone else pointed out, did you help them in their time of need and have a different story than what we all have witnessed so far. If not. Dont be changing the subject. It still remains that we are all concerned about the cats. Geeeeezzz

No matter what you believe that Karma Girl is doing, the fact remains she is right. Nothing can change the truth, it is the most powerful thing in the world. And it remains. We see what has been going on there, it is facts. Are you sticking up for Haven Acres?

I have known your mom and stepmother many years.
Stop using this forum to further your own agenda in relation to Pennie. Your mother was mentally and physically ill before she died. We are all very sorry for you loss, but it was 20+ years ago. Don't let your continued feeling of injustice for losing you mother continue to demean 2 people who are not perfect as NO ONE IS,
but did try to help the cats to prevent senseless euthanasia. To all other reading this, PLEASE SPAY NEUTER!!

There speaks Elisa, the voice of reason, knowledge, compassion and experience !
Surely what she says is enough to convince any one who says they love cats that declawing does not save homes !
Yes we do tend to forget that cats need claws to play too. How cruel it is that vets will declaw kittens as young as 10 weeks, taking away the pleasure of their kittenhood.
A supposedly last resort procedure is done on tiny innocent kittens just incase they scratch !
No thought of recommending a scratching post or trimming the kittens claws, because that doesn't put money in the vets bank account does it !
What lovelier sight than a kitten grabbing a toy with his front claws and giving it a good kick with his back feet ? This is the 'practice hunting and killing' which indoor cats especially need, to make up for being unable to do the real thing outside.
The 'indoor cats don't need claws' brigade are totally wrong, ALL cats need claws to live a fulfilled life.
It must break your heart Elisa to see those 2 cats deprived of the life they were born to live because someone decided they must live without their very essential claws !

Both came thru the shelter I rescue from. Both had notes NOT to but them back up for adoption because of behavior problems. Both were rescued to me as a last resort before being euthanized. Those were my instructions to the shelter worker who handles rescues. No one wanted a Maine Coon mix and a Snowshoe without the claws. My poor Cocoa can't even jump up on a bar without using a chair as a launching pad because he doesn't have the grip claws would give him. I have 2 cat trees with scratching posts that my cats all use and the kittens love to climb and scratch and stretch and just be kittens. Cocoa and Misty will never have that pleasure again. They are less playful than the other cats. People tend to forget claws are also used in play. I agree that cats are treated as possessions by a lot of people. They're trying to mold the cat into what they see as perfection instead of accepting the cat as nature meant for it to be.

For 'love and lifelong home' read 'possess and life long disability'
Cat guardians who have their cats declawed for the sake of kids,dogs,furniture or whatever other excuse do not repeat NOT love cats,they love adapted pets.
What will they do when declawing is banned?
I sure hope that happens soon then the Rescue Centres will be nowhere near as full as they are now.
That declawing is still legal there gives the false assumption that cats are the bottom of the pecking order and that it doesn't matter if they suffer because they aren't important enough for anyone to care.
The whole attitude to cats in the USA stinks!

You miss the point that many of those cats in your words living in filthy conditions were more than likely declawed and living with disability probably pain too.
There is no justification for removing a cat's finger ends.
No loving owner wishes to have their cat purposefully crippled.
Ignorance is no excuse!
No loving owner would drop a pet off for surgery without asking what it entails whether they trust their doctor or not.
Yes education is needed for neuter/spay but also desperately needed for declawing.
The figures Barbara gives is the proof of that!

Thank you for your post. You are a very wise person.

My post was simply about my experience of friends and acquantinances who have declawed their cats and I've seen the love and life long home they've been given. So I do believe it is a mis-judgement to accuse those who have declawed their cats that they didn't love them. One of my closest friends cat's are declawed (only the front)and while I don't have an opinion on the matter I can testify the amount of care and love they receive. I did not say I condoned it or supported it. It was a statement for consideration. I've successfully have taught cats to use a scratching post but not all people are educated enough to do that. My statement was taken out of content which is what I expected. My other point was that if a person had to choose a cat living in the filthy conditions and suffering that happened at Haven Acres due to someone relinquishing them for scratching up furniture, I would not attack them for declawing the cat whether or not I was anti declawing. I agree the US is far behind in the education of pet care. However, we are still struggling with educating people on spay/nueter. Once we can get that under control, then I believe we can focus on other things. That's just my opinion and we can agree to disagree. And sometimes you do have to post anonymously on this board because there is a history of people being chastised due to their opinions.

Wow! I've seen the videos. I've seen the photos. I've read the articles. I've even been reading ALL the comments. My few questions are:

1. It seems that there were people who tried to help Pennie and Steve, but then it seems that their volunteer log was isolated to people doing "service time" such as for a court mandated thing. Were people not being given the ABILITY OR TIME to volunteer due the restrictions of Pennie?

2. Why is it that Pennie calls many people "liars" or "diagnosed pathological liars"? Why? Is her character that demented and flawed? I have seen it in many responses. Perhaps this is part of her illness OR better yet...shes speaking in third person of herself and we need to keep this in mind when the case comes around to prosecution...her character. I hope I am used as a witness...cause it will not be hard for me to testify my stories.

3. Why isnt Pennie trying to make good on her end? Instead, she is slaughtering others publicly, with possible lies and slander...why? Cause the truth is coming out?

4. Why are many of us letting Pennie manipulate the situation by involving lies, slandering, and personal stories: when really the light needs to remain ON HER AND THE CATS SHE HAS MADE SUFFER!

PLEASE....
for the sake of the cats. Start writing down your stories, dates, times and accounts. Letters and testimonies will assist in this case being brought full circle to Pennie and Steves front door. Stop baitig Pennie....shes not worth fighting with. Start preparing for the next step...send letters to the agencies of your accounts. Start assisting in justice. I am and will...with a big smile.

All the while....keep in mind...your doing your part to help these poor kitties and others down the road in similar situations!

AND KEEP VOLUNTEERING!

Karma girl!!!

While this blog is not written about declawing, I would like to add an opinion here, based on close to 50 years of being owned by a great number of cats over the years.

I would never, under any circumstances even think of declawing a cat. Most of the people that I do know who have had their cats declawed had absolutely no knowledge about how this brutal and inhumane surgery is performed, nor were they given any information about the risks to which they were subjecting their "beloved" cats.

From this I can possibly draw a conclusion that many folks trust their vets and don't question them about what procedures entail, and even if they do, I do know that many veterinarians forbid their staff to discuss the procedure with folks who are inquiring, and most vets in a busy practice don't have the time to come to the phone to answer these questions.

The truth of the matter is that cats need their claws, for balance, to be able to ambulate correctly, to stretch and if necessary to protect themselves. Research shows that many cats who undergo this procedure may stop using their litter boxes, and eliminate in areas of the home, since the litter box is something they associate with a great deal of pain on their sensitive and sore paws. Pain from this procedure can continue to bother them for long periods of time, and in fact some experience it for the rest of their lives.

These declawed cats often resort to biting and chewing. They can also become untrusting and aggressive toward their owners. While some folks report no problems post-declawing, I have to say they are most fortunate, or they are not keen observers of the manner in which their cats move and walk.

So as far as I am concerned the words, "Cat lovers" and "declawing" is an oxymoron. There is no medical reason for the surgery. It is only done for the convenience of owners who refuse to learn how to clip their cat's nails, which is a process that is not difficult at all. All it takes is patience and practice, after learning how to do it from a vet tech or veterinarian.

Scratching posts and cat trees that are appropriate in height and texure, or horizontal scratching devices liberally placed around the home are very effective to prevent furniture damage. I strongly feel that if furniture and carpets are more important to a person than the health and welfare of their cat that they claim to adore, perhaps another pet is far more suitable.

I also am aware that many, many cats are surrendered to shelters due to inappropriate elimination, aggressive behavior after they have been declawed and the owner who elected to have this surgery performed cannot tolerate this behavior which, in fact, their uneducated and unthinking action caused in the first place. They are the ones who abandoned their kitties after they were permanently maimed.

Barbara that is shocking!
All those legally abused cats sitting in cages without much chance of another home.
Why the hell do people get cats if they don't like it they have claws?
Vets should concentrate on neutering cats instead of mutilating them then the situation as has happened in this article would not arise.
A cat is for life not just for Christmas!!!!!!!

In my country we do not have declawing, it is outlawed. And we deal with the fact that cats have claws. Instead of chopping their toe ends off, we buy them these things called scratching posts. I am beginning to think that scratching posts do not exist in the U.S, because all you pro declaws seem to think that it's declawing or nothing. You provide a cat with his own furniture, and he will use that furniture as opposed to yours. My furniture is in wonderful condition, the only signs of scratching is on the scratching post.

Also, not once have I ever heard of a cat being put in a shelter because of furniture being torn up. Perhaps Australians, and those in the other 37 countries who have banned declawing, just have some level of tolerance, acceptance and respect? Perhaps that fact that cats come with claws is so obvious, that we don't give up our cats for such petty reasons? And perhaps it takes a movement such as the anti declaw movement (which, might I add, the majority of the American people are part of) to bring that tolerance, acceptance and respect to the pro declaws of America.

Another fact you might be interested in, is that in the UK when declawed cats are brought from America and dumped in shelters, those cats are always the hardest to find homes for, and the majority fail in finding homes. Why do you think that is? Personally, I think it's because the people of the UK do not want to adopt a cat just to see him stumbling around in agony day after day until he dies. Honestly, I think death would be much nicer than declawing. And if I were a declawed cat, knowing what the poor souls go through without their ignorant 'owners' even noticing, I would welcome euthanasia with open arms.

Come to Australia, ask anyone "Do you know what declawing is?" You'll be lucky if one person can say yes. And explain to them what declawing really is, and see the look of horror on their faces. Declawing is punishable as animal cruelty for a reason. Maybe you should think about that?

Declawed cats in shelters
within 100 miles of
Chigaco = 427
Atlanta = 79
Boston = 85
Cincinnati= 244
St Louis = 104
New Orleans = 153
Austin = 54

within 500 miles of
Chicago = 2882
Atlanta = 1410
Boston= 1188
Cincinnati = 3144
St Louis = 2804
New Orleans = 740
Austin = 454

TODAY's figures - so pray tell me what happened to the wonderful homes? These cats had their toe ends amputated and STILL ended up in shelters????
WHY????????????????????????????????????????????

A declawed cat has a wonderful home for life!
You are joking of course?
A wonderful owner does not subject their cat to the cruellest most painful and crippling surgery a cat can endure.
Shelters are chock a block with unwanted declawed cats,
for God's sake open your eyes and see declawing is legalised abuse and must be banned!

Sorry anonymous but you are wrong, declawing does NOT keep cats in their homes and the most popular excuse for relinquishing cats to Shelters is the allergy of a child in the family.
Do some research on declawing, like I and others have.
There are thousands of declawed cats in Shelters and they are only the adoptable ones, many more are killed on admission to kill shelters or caged for life in no kill shelters.
Look on Petfinder.com !
The main complications from declawing are litter box avoidance and biting, ask any cat behavioural therapist ! The very people who paid a vet to amputate their cats ten toe ends then call the poor creature a 'bad cat' and 'get rid' of him.
Cats need their claws for walking, grooming and exercise as well as for self defence, anyone who can't train a cat to a scratching post is an unfit person to have a cat in their care.
Scratching is NOT bad behaiour anonymous, it is necessary behaviour, as those of us in the 39 countries where declawing is banned know, so why don't you know this in your country ?

I've heard both sides of the story against declawing and I personally don't have a strong opinion either way. However, one thing I do disagree with and that is trying to ban declawing. If declawing were banned, how do you think that would affect the number of homeless cats? If declawing weren't an option, there would be exponentially more cats in shelters and euthanized each year. Scratching up furniture is one of the top reasons cats are turned over to shelters.

I've known many cat lovers over the years who had their cats declawed and those cats had a long, happy life in ONE home with lots of affection. Like I said, I don't have a strong opinion either way on the subject but if it came down to the choice of a cat getting declawed and getting a wonderful home for life or banning declawing and more cats ending up in one of these hoarding cases or euthanized, I'm going to choose keeping declawing legal.

Kathy you are exactly right. That was what I had learned when I went there on the weekends. NO ONE did any filling of water and fresh food during the week or cleaning litter boxes. It was only being done one day a week. I believe they felt they had a system down that would make it where that was all they had to do it. And it made me sick and it made me sad.

No there is no excuse for cruelty to cats!
Yes the wider picture we need to look at as our UK friends have pointed out is to tackle the way cats are thought of.
Also for each and every one of us who care about cats to seriously push for the neutering and spaying of as many as possible.

There is just no excuse for the conditions at this place. I dont care what kind of personal issues these people have with other people the cats welfare should be what the bickering is about not all this personal bickering back and forth. Its obvious these poor creatures were not being taken care of properly. 700 is a lot of cats. I didnt notice any food or water dishes in any of the cages or pictures of this place. The way the floor was coveried in filth was disgusting. It doesnt even look like they took a daily effort to try and do any cleaning. I have 7 cats and they are a daily job. I cant even imagine that times 100 litter boxes to clean every day. My life revolves around my cats and I even took less hours at my job so I could spend more time with them. Our Savannah had her first and last litter and we kept two of them. All my cats are on their way to being fixed. This Pennie lady needs help. She needs to focus on what she did wrong and stop worrying about whos in a relationship with anyone and worry about her relatioship with all those poor defenseless cats she had caged up living covered with litter and filthy eyes. My boyfriend has a fit if he even se3es one little eye gobber in any of our cats eyes. I hope the woman is prosecuted for animal cruelty to the full extent of the law. I fell there is no excuses she can give for this sort of thing.

I agree Michael, you are right and it's time all American people started thinking of cats as living feeling beings with rights, not as possessions to 'get rid' of when it suits them to.
Here are a few figures I've picked up today whilst doing my data counts on the number of declawed cats in Shelters. This is not about declawing today, but declawed cats are included.
Within a hundred mile radius of 6 USA cities there are 13,943 cats in Shelters of which 2,873 are kittens.
148 of those kittens were relinquished to those Shelters since Friday !
148 unwanted kittens in 3 days and their births could have been prevented by the simple neutering of the parent cats.
I'm not in any way condoning the neglect of cats in any Shelter but the root of the problem is the sheer number of unwanted cats which I can understand Shelters don't want to turn away and therefore the numbers can get so out of hand it's impossible to care for them properly.
Our own local Shelter here has 39 cats at present and believe you me, they take a lot of hard work to look after as they should be and a lot of money to feed and for vets bills etc.
A Shelter with hundreds of cats needs a lot of support, physically and financially.
Most of all in the USA cats need to stop being treated as second class citizens to dogs and a huge neutering campaign is essential too.

I like the points you made Michael.

Also I wanted to just point out, and Pennie knows I know this. Not once did her # of cats decline as she has told many people that she got rid of some cats at one point. The time I was there, there were always over 500, but I never knew how many to the tee, so it could of been well well over that.

It bothers me that her and Steve on their video talk about how broken they are that HSUS took 'their favorites'. Well Pennie and Steve what about the other cats? Is that why the other cats were in the shape they were in cause you had favorites?

I like the points you made Michael.

Also I wanted to just point out, and Pennie knows I know this. Not once did her # of cats decline as she has told many people that she got rid of some cats at one point. The time I was there, there were always over 500, but I never knew how many to the tee, so it could of been well well over that.

It bothers me that her and Steve on their video talk about how broken they are that HSUS took 'their favorites'. Well Pennie and Steve what about the other cats? Is that why the other cats were in the shape they were in cause you had favorites?

There seems to be a wider picture: there are too many domestic cats in Florida and a good number of people who want to offload their unwanted domestic cats. Plus the authorities who just don't want to know it seems to me.

The people who have unwanted cats go to people who want to help and who open shelters. There are the helpers and those that lean on them. Do people start shelters to make money or to genuinely help? They don't realise the level of work involved sometimes.

And what I find odd is that many people helped to pick up the pieces of this failed cat rescue but at the same time it appears that we all accept the ongoing slaughter of perfectly healthy cats at shelters across the USA on a daily basis.

Are the cats that are killed routinely in their millions less worthy than the cats that were saved at this failed shelter?

There really is something odd going on in the USA in relation to humankind's relationship with the domestic cat.

There is a need for the authorities to look at the wider picture. To regulate cat "ownership" in some way to stop the slaughter and overproduction of domestic cats. The mentality that leads to this failed situation is the same one that allows declawing to take place - a lack of respect for the domestic cat.

My daughter and I care for about 30 cats and I tell people no every day about rescuing more. It's hard work with what we have. And I won't take in too many at one time. If I took in every cat I've been asked to rescue I'd have about 150 cats by now. Rescues and sanctuaries not only have to consider the entire cat family but also know their limits on what they can manage emotionally and financially. I'm the first to admit my house is cluttered-with cats. But they have feeders and fresh water and their litter is changed out daily. There's plenty of disinfecting going on each day. There's not a day goes by that one of the cats isn't getting medication. I don't see how on earth they could even stand by and see that many cats and the condition they were getting in and not get some kind of help. It's unreal. I'd be crying my eyes out if faced with as many sick cats as they've rescued here. I can desensitize myself to a cats pain as long as I'm treating a cat for an injury or illness. You have to be able to do this. Rescue isn't always pretty. But it's another thing to watch countless cats sick and in filth and God knows what else and convince yourself nothing is wrong and not treat the injury or illness. And the law isn't going to want to hear any sad stories. They'll act on what they saw at the time of the raid. In this country its innocent until proven guilty, but I'm guessing there will be quite a few charges and fines and possibly jail time on a case of this magnitude. I only hate the cats got caught up in the middle of it.

I was there for the december inspection that was mentioned in the news story on Haven Acres. The inspecter stood around shooting the breeze with Steve and barely walked the place. Never once did he go to the left back of the property, and never took a count of the cats that he did see. There was a room off to the right with the curtains shut that held about 50 cats in cages that were in pretty bad shape. I could not believe that the inspection went fine, but because he didn't see everything and didn't even make an attempt to is why. I also seen a lot of cats brought in that Pennie never once even thought about saying NO. She never refused any cats while I was there.

AS far as any official capacity being left holding the cats, I'd just about bet none of them ever heard of transporters. I never knew until a year and a half ago that people literally transferred cats across country if need be. Msybe we need to educate them when we make complaints that plenty of people would be willing to take the cats. Look at the tornadoes several weeks ago. South Carolina where I live got a lot of the animals to hold until everything was sorted out. I did an article on transporters awhile ago. I may approach the subject again in a few days when I have the time. THe cats won't allow me to write at home so I do all my writing while I'm at work now.

Elise, from what I've been reading is the authorities had been receiving complaints for a long time and been turning a blind eye. This is actually pretty common. The animal control officers would rather keep giving them another chance after chance because they don't want to deal with it. I read in one article that AC had been out to visit haven acres 2 weeks prior and didn't find anything. I believe this is part of the problem why caboodle ranch hasn't been closed down. I asked AC officer who does the inspections to take out an independent org such as aspca or hsus (they had an open offer)to assist and he declined the offer stating that he didn't want to be left holding the handbag if they decided it needed to be shut down. Obviously the cats welfare is not in his best interest. I explained he would not be stuck with the cats because hsus and any other org involved would be there to help. Everything I said fell on death ears.

I've never turned over a cat to any shelter, however, I know that many of the cats turned over to these hoarding cases are either from other so-called rescue groups or individuals who've rescued strays with the intent of finding them a home or shelter to take them and care for them until adopted. The sorry rescue groups are often aware of the conditions, as with caboodle ranch, but turn a blind eye because that is dozens less cats they have to deal with. So to those who are blanketing blaming everyone who's turned over a cat, u are misinformed.

Pennie,I'm sorry but blaming others for dumping cats without your permission is an excuse. Do u think that other shelter don't have to deal with that? Somehow they still are able to manage their numbers. You should NOT have opened a shelter without thoroughly doing ur research on the obstacles and proper management of a shelter. I like others believe ur intentions were good but intentions don't matter at the end of the day. It's the outcome that matters. Drunk drivers don't have the intention to get into a wreck and kill someone, however, they have to be held accountable due to neglect. And u should be held accountable for neglect. Pennie, ur in denial wanting to explain every criticism. One cat with a precondition does not explain the condition of the rest of the cats.

I am not going to say anymore Pennie. I like you as a person. But cats suffered because you took on too much. I seen a lot and you know it. Those conditions were not normal. I didn't realize how bad til the last couple visits and that is when Steve wanted me out because like you said, he thought I might turn you in or tell people like I did about Caboodle Ranch. But after Kenney and I left it obvisouly got really bad. So sad for the cats. I knew that if you didn't do something immediately 'different' or to make it better, that it would in turn get worse. And it did. Horrifying. I hate using that word, but if you could just step out of the picture for a moment and look at it all, the photos, the videos, your babies, you might have a glimpse of the sadness of it all and all the neglect of the animals due to them not getting the attention and care they deserved. Please I don't want to get into it with you and I don't want to say anymore. You are trying to turn the tables and talk about me and Kenney and all that but it doesn't change the fact of what happened there at Haven Acres, yours and Steves cat sanctuary.

I am not nor ever was "jealous" of Craig Grant.
I just know how much better we could have made Haven Acres with just a fraction of the money he takes in. We never spent any donated money on anything but the cats in addition to the $138,000.00 we have spent out of our pocket since 2003 when we incorporated.
We still have a mortgage which is one of the reason I work.
As far as me lying about being repaid for Kenney, you are correct, I did tell you you did not have to repay me, I was trying to make sure anyone who read your email would know that did not happen. I really liked you as well and would take up for you against Steve. If you think I was "into the business about caboodle" that was one of the things you talked about incessantly and how you were going to do a website and on and on. In order to talk to you at all, I had to become involved some as that is the only reason we met.
No one living is perfect and we never claimed to be. I also never claimed that HA was perfect but we did try to help. Which is more than most can say.

I am not nor ever was "jealous" of Craig Grant.
I just know how much better we could have made Haven Acres with just a fraction of the money he takes in. We never spent any donated money on anything but the cats in addition to the $138,000.00 we have spent out of our pocket since 2003 when we incorporated.
We still have a mortgage which is one of the reason I work.
As far as me lying about being repaid for Kenney, you are correct, I did tell you you did not have to repay me, I was trying to make sure anyone who read your email would know that did not happen. I really liked you as well and would take up for you against Steve. If you think I was "into the business about caboodle" that was one of the things you talked about incessantly and how you were going to do a website and on and on. In order to talk to you at all, I had to become involved some as that is the only reason we met.
No one living is perfect and we never claimed to be. I also never claimed that HA was perfect but we did try to help. Which is more than most can say.

You are lying again. You offered to pay Kenney and told me I did not have to repay you cause the weekends I could not bring him due to me not having enough money, you wanted him there. So you said I would not have to repay you. Why do you want to lie about that?

Say what you want to here about me Pennie, but this is about you and your sanctuary. I did not cause what you did at Haven Acres to all those babies, so try to detract it away from yourself if you have to.

I cannot and will not say any more here, but there is a lot more. There is an investigation underway and I am not at will to tell all here.

thanx for the blog

You are correct, we did take a few cats, but most were dumped. You may have left your house at 8am - 2 hour drive now its 10am - need to get home by dark, it is winter so dark comes eary.
You never repaid me for paying Kenney and I have all the cancelled checks to show for how many hours he was paid. By the way, whatever happened to that homeless woman you picked up at the convenience to and brought to "help" you, who sat around smoking like mad all day.

You say you and Kenney are not in a relationship -maybe that is why he watches you all the time like a hawk watches a rabbit.

Kenney is a nice guy and I really like he, but he is really wrapped up in you - hopefull maybe?

Pennie is a smart lady when it comes to the laws and code and all that and she has shared her knowledge with plenty. But that doesn't mean she is perfect.

I also noticed a lot of jealousy she had toward Caboodle Ranch's Craig Grant because of all the donations he was getting and all the raves and rants on his facebook page. She even asked if I would go on their facebook wall, message all the people on there and tell them to take a look at Haven Acres and how great it is. I told her I could not do that because I would be spamming. She really hates Craig and wanted to try to get money in like he was getting, but I told her I couldn't help her with that unless she did a video of Steve running around with cats following him like the pide pipper. She was always into the business of caboodle ranch and worked a full time job. Why weren't you taking care of those babies more Pennie? You should of been more worried about your own babies.

My crying was due to my pre-menopause, so what is your excuse for NOT TAKING PROPER CARE OF YOU CATS???

I meant we left out at 6 am so we could put in a full day there.

Don't you still have animals you are caring for? Horses, the dog? Maybe you should go take care of them. And let's not forget about the cats that run loose on the property that I doubt the HSUS confiscated. I am heart broken for you that your cats are gone, but happy for them that they are in a much more comfortable place with someone who will give them the attention and proper care they need. Would you like to see my Romeo's vet bill that was due to something someone did to him while he was there with you? I already know what happened but because no one seen it, I can't prove it, but we all know.

Your tendency to cry at the drop of a hat and use the term "you know what I mean" every third sentence was annoying. I remember Steve telling you to stop crying aboat minor things several time. Once was the time you were trying to take photos of a Persian and he had hidden in a corner and was trying to bite anyone trying to remove him. I put a snappy snare around his middle to get him far enough away from the wall to scruff him, you acted like we were trying to hurt him and burst into tears. You wailed when I tried to show you it was NOT hurting him. I think you can cry on demand as I never saw any tears.

First off Kenney and I have not been in a relationship for quite some time, couple of years. I brought him with me cause I needed the help there. When I seen all the cats in distress I begged and pleaded and even paid Kenney to come with me. Then you offered to pay him to come when I could not. And I seen you take cats every weekend, people would pull up and bring cats directly to you. AND YOU TOOK THEM!!! Remember the two beautiful persians you took? How are they doing? Are they still around? I could go on and on cause there is just so much to say. And btw Kenney is not a liar, he and I both will take a lie detector test to prove it. You are the liars and you know what else... if you hadn't of let fear come in and let Steve push us away, you would of had help with all those babies. We left out of my house sometimes as early as 8 am because we knew we had to get there early and he and I both with the same goal in mind. Get every cat taken care of cause if we don't, God only knows when someone will clean his or hers cage, get them water without cat shit in it, or a nice fresh litter box. Not to mention the feces they all walked in all week cause no one cleaned but once a week.

I don't know how you consider having cats dumped here, thrown over the fence, left in pet taxies at the end of the drive, 18 cats left in taxies in the barn aisle, cars coming down drive and just dumping cats out the door and then driving away fast, as us "taking cats". I made it very clear to you, we would only keep your cats till you found another place for them.

"Hey Pennie, I have an idea. I just made some extra money on a small web site and figured out my stuff and I can't pay Kenney to help. I know it looks like he dind't do much last time he was there, but we were just learning what needed to be done. He did clean the gazebo really well and he raked both large areas, but he can really put in a hard day of work. If you can pay Kenney this weekend the $8 an hr, I can give you the money back the following weekend. He will be well worth it I guarantee you. He can clean big cages, move stuff and all that. He is good at scrubbing and everything. Just don't tell him I am giving you the money back, let him think he is working for you and you only. Even though sometimes I think he does better if he thinks it is for me. Let me know what you think.

Carolyn"

Kenney will say anything you want him to as he wants to stay in your good graces for obvious reasons.

You are lying about me spending most of my time there with my cats. I wish I had the time to of done that. Even my partner can tell you better than that bs line. I worked so hard at your place that when the day was done I could barely stand straight. I cried the last time I left there and my partner can tell you. Cause we knew those babies would not have anyone to take care of them anymore. You could only reach so many of them. I am not going to say anymore here, cause I would have to get into details that aren't very pleasant of what we seen and experienced while being there. I don't hate you Pennie or Steve, but I hate what you let happen. Have a nice day.

Would you like for me to tell people what I saw here at your place? All this time I watched you messaging on facebook about caboodle ranch stating that YOU WOULD TAKE CATS FROM THERE IF THEY HAD TO CLOSE THEM. Do you know how hard it was for me to bite my tongue? And why did I? And let's tell everyone what you did to my cat. How about the way you and other hoarders try to explain away all the excuses for everything. I really liked you, but I didn't like what I seen. You had favorites but when it comes to the care of the cats, you have to take care of them all. And I believe you tried. But you have to know when to say NO MORE CATS!

Isn't this huge hoarding case about you and your place Pennie? Let's talk about you and what has happened at Haven Acres. Not all those cats were dumped on you. You took in cats did you not? And also how could you keep taking them in day in and day out knowing you had your hands full and overfull of cats. Do you not work a full time job? Where did you find all that time to play on the internet concerning the issues with Caboodle Ranch when you had your own cats welfare's to worry about?

Carolyn Camp Logan, lets be truthfull. You only "volunteered" because you had unexpectedly brought your 20 + cats here from Caboodle Ranch. I remember you crying for help with your car full of pet taxiesand no where else to go with them.
You did work hard while you were here but your "partner" was paid. You were here at most, one day a week, and a good majority of that day, you were caring for your own cats. I saved all your emails to me. Of course I had favorites, I had bottle fed Blackfoot and his siblings in Arizona, I've had him for 16 years. Another thing, I still have all the photos that I asked you to take to try to get some of these cats adopted.

I spent 4 to 5 mths there. And I have read and watched what has been going on. I see lies, I see deception. What I don't understand is that when so called hoarders get into these situations they do not take accountability or responsibility of what they have done. Almost as if they are still wearing the blinders that they had on when it was all happening. I see a lot and because the case is still being investigated I won't be able to share the knowledge I have. But I can say this, if you watch the video of Steve and Pennie,posted here: all they seem worried about is THEIR FAVORITES and explaining away why they had so many cats. Oh my let's all worry just about the favorites. Give me a break. I sick over all this and cry when I watch the videos and look at the pictures. I know almost every inch of that place and I know along with my partner that when we left there may have been no hope for those babies anymore.

I'm with Ann!
Anyone neglecting a cat (and I include the owners who dumped their cats at that overflowing sanctuary) deserves to be behind bars and negelected exactly like those 700 cats were.

Where were all these volunteers when this place was getting fuller and fuller of cats, yes they're helping now when the owners are in trouble, examining the cats etc etc, but why didn't they help out by taking some of the homeless cats into other cat care establishments so that this one wasn't overwhelmed.
I'm not condoning anyone keeping cats in squalor, I hate the way cats are treated as second class citizens, but it's easy to be judgemental and it's easy to get too many cats one by one by one by another one.

And I very much doubt if anyone who has previously dumped their cat on Haven Acres sanctuary is going to care a flying f about what happened to it, if they cared they wouldn't have dumped them, so I doubt they'll reclaim them, why would they? They dumped them!

It sickens me, the number, and I'm talking hundreds of thousands, of cats in sanctuaries, why don't people have their cats neutered? Why do they keep on getting more and more kitens? Why don't they realise that a cat is for life not just until you get sick of it or see a cute kitten? If the public were less selfish and more responsible these horrendous cat prisons wouldn't exist!

This is terrible and heart breaking but what I want to know is why all those 700 cats had been relinquished to that Shelter in the first place ?
Of these people handing them in 'thinking they would be well cared for' I really can't imagine every single one of them had a good enough excuse to part with their cats !
Would true cat lovers leave a cat without checking that the place they were leaving him or her was clean and the resident cats well cared for ?
I think not.
They would surely not leave a child in a place they hadn't hadn't thoroughly checked on. A cat is as much a responsibility as a child, not a possession to be 'got rid of' when it's inconvenient to keep him or her.

QUOTE:'When asked about the hoarding sanctuary (
for lack of a better term), Pennie Lefkowitz stated she had tried to get the number of cats down to comply with the law, but people kept leaving more cats'

Yes there will be some genuine cases where the cats caretakers have died or there was some other real reason the cat was relinquished but I'd bet a large percentage of the people handing in cats, especially declawed cats, have gone on to have one of the growing number of kittens available because some people don't bother having their cat neutered !
The Shelter is to blame for these cats suffering but so are many of those cats previous caretakers too !

Once again, this situation proves that Rescuers, like Christians, tend to shoot their wounded. I'm sure that the people who own the sanctuary started out with the best of intentions. But as we all know, any rescue (and I do mean ANY rescue)can get out of hand quickly.

What actually comes out of a situation like this is that the Humane Society, ASPCA, and Peta get positive publicity (and more money), even though these institutes openly endorse the killing of healthy and treatable animals. Mark my words, as soon as the publicity dies down, you will hear NOTHING about what happened to these cats. More than likely, the majority of these cats will die at the hands of the Humane Society.

I just wish that rescuers would reach out and come together to help each other more. There is absolutely no reason that any of us should have to work alone. Every time one of us fails, it hurts all of us, and the animals suffer as well. maybe one day, we will all wake up and realize that we need each other.

I record everything when I rescue a new cat. I, too, have many coming to me in bad shape. You can go back and look at the pictures of Cocoa and Cassie and Pinky. Many of the others besides these were malnourished or just plain sick. I always photograph the cats when I get them home because I don't want anyone to say I let a cat go without treatment or caused its condition. I can't even imagine trying to care for that many cats. My daughter and I have around 30 and several of those are about to go to new homes. That's as many as we can manage. I know of one lady who's about to be in trouble for feeding 250 by herself because all kinds of problems have come up.

I want both sides of this issue to feel free to comment. Just don't use bad language as is what happened with the Caboodle Ranch story. As long as we have friendly discussions you won't be banned. Bad language will be removed and the user blocked.

Pennie, feel free to give your side of things. I offered the same to Caboodle Ranch and never heard a peep out of them.

https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/2swOBJs8W5rZBG

Please check out this link, it is for the Critter Magazine, March 2011 issue. On page 21 is the featured cat from Haven Acres, "Helen" aka Possum. We received not one call from anyone interested in adopting her. She came to us from another rescue in Orlando that could not get her adopted either. She is missing an eye and may only have limited sight in the other. She will follow you hand. Her problems predated her being brought to Haven Acres. You can bet there will be a list of people wanting her now that she is one of the poster children for HSUS.

I can understand wanting to take in cats and help them, but they were not helping them or taking care of them! I hope they are arrested and locked in a cage with no care. Let them see how well they get along!