This is the story of a woman who decided, too late (but better late than never) that she didn’t want her cats anymore and made the decision to dump them at a Newark animal shelter. The shelter manager says that she could have asked him for help at any time.
Last Monday night after the shelter had closed, an animal control officer was dropping off an animal at the 124 Evergreen Avenue facility around 8 pm when he spotted a woman in a red pickup truck attempting to abandon her cats. The unknown woman had 42 cats stuffed inside of five standard sized carriers, Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey shelter assistant director Scott Crawford told FIOS1 News. The Society is in charge of the local shelter.The cages were so full of kittens from a couple of weeks old to cats as old as six or seven, and packed so tightly they were bulging out of the cages.
Video
The video below explains the story, along with a photo of the woman being sought. If the video won’t play, below it are some screenshots.
Video screenshots – the cats shown are the ones in the best condition
The animal control officer managed to snap a few photos of the woman, who may face animal cruelty charges. The officer approached the woman and asked about what she was doing. The woman said she was no longer able to care for the cats. When the officer told the woman the shelter was closed and she’d need to return the next day with the cats to fill out paperwork, the woman said she’d need to get a ride back in an hour or so to pick up the cats. She became upset when the officer began taking her picture.
This woman should definitely face charges of animal cruelty and animal abandonment. The cat carriers were full of urine and feces, and the cats were sick with upper respiratory infections. Some of the cats had such severe eye infections their eyeballs had popped out of their sockets. Crawford reported seven cats with their eyes popped out, eight with eye infections and another dozen with URI’s. The shelter wants to find this woman. Not only to consider animal cruelty charges for abandoning her cats at the shelter, but because they fear she has a house full of more cats wherever she lives.
Crawford told FIOS News
“It is inhumane to have that many animals in a carrier that’s made for one or two animals maximum.”
Had the animal control officer not been on site, these cats could have died from the heat or from suffocation before morning. Crawford says they wouldn’t have lasted the night.
The shelter normally takes in two to three dozen pets per day, so receiving 42 at one time has created a stressful situation for AHS. The cats have survived their ordeal (hopefully none have died) according to the report originally posted July 9 by FIOS. They’re being treated and the shelter plans to transfer some of them to the society’s Tinton Falls and Forked River facilities. Hopefully rescues or fosters in the area will step up to take in some of these cats.
Be sure to share this article with friends, especially those in the Newark, New Jersey area. She needs to be found and charged and her home searched for more cats. There is a phone number in the video.
This lady is part of a wider problem. She is a symptom of it. There needs to be a rejigging of our relationship with the domestic cat which reduces the number of unwanted cats and respects all cats.
Another tragedy.
But, I have to give this woman just a little credit for having the forethought to take them to the Humane Society (I presume) as opposed to a county kill shelter. I’m sure some won’t be saved, but their fate is slightly better there.
You’re right, Michael, everything about hoarding or even abandonment is all tangled up with so many unwanted cats and irresponsible caretakers permitting them to breed. This has to be cleaned up before we can ever see the end of kill shelters that I scream about so much.
But, as long as kill shelters exist, hoarding and abandonment will never end either, because people do not want to take cats there. These people wind up taking in more than they can handle and, some people, really feel that dropping a cat in the forest is better for them than dropping at a shelter.
It’s all a vicious cycle.
Jasmine will be fine Kylee but I know it’s horrible having to leave a cat to be spayed, you’ll not be happy until she’s back home with you. It’s the responsible thing to do though, so well done you for booking her in.
Furby sleeps on the way and back. He enjoys riding. The worm and temp check up the bum are a different story. Last time he looked at me like he couldn’t believe I let the vet do that to him.
Cute photo. I’m probably going to be in Lots of trouble tomorrow with Jasmine. As its that time. Hopefully she will cope with it well.
Ours love napping or cat watching from the feeding cages. Then again they can come and go as they please. We used the cages for transport when the cats were spayed and neutered so we didn’t have to disturb them when we brought them home. Lola has discovered Sealys cage now.