Who else is sick of the cat ladies?

Question

I was at the humane society recently dropping off some donations.. and there was a girl in the lobby dropping off three cats to be spayed/neutered. Our local humane soc. will fix 3 animals a year for free for low income families but she was complaining that she had at least 9 more cats that needed it and they were'nt doing enough to help her. They told her the only option they have is to seize the other cats and give them up for adoption. She then admitted its more like 30 cats, and none of them are fixed... but that she wouldnt give them up. after she left they said they cant seize the animals unless they recieve a complaint.. but it seems to me that she cant possibly be able to care for over 30 cats, especially if she cant afford medical treatment for them. I dont know where she lives.. so I dont know of the living conditions. Do you know of any steps that can be taken to help? we dont have animal enforcement officers here.. just local police assist the humane society in seizures

Answer 1

Somebody answered that you were wrong in complaining but Sahara you are wrong. 30 cats in one house only leads to 30 cats being neglected and possibly all of them ending up needing to be destroyed. People like you are the wrong ones. And, yes I hate people that hoard animals those houses are disgusting full of feces, bugs, starving,and injured animals. Also, their are usually a few that are half eaten because they died and the other animals have nothing else to eat. That's the truth about a house full of animals.

Answer 2

It seems like a mental illness when a person gets large numbers of cats and/or dogs and rescues them without having the means to care for them. They just can't turn away a needy stray and then end up with tons of them. They don't want to take them to shelters or have shelters pick them up because they don't want to see them put to sleep. This lady you mention was trying to get the cats fixed so she had the right idea but I am surprised the SPCA did not offer her help at least in the form of sending someone out to assess the situation. Some people can have a lot of rescued animals and care for them properly but more often than not, people that collect random strays and turn their home into a zoo are overwhelmed and the animals aren't healthy and premises are filthy. I know two cat ladies personally that have about 15 strays but they have been responsible. They had all of them fixed, got their shots and the cats are well fed and cared for. They have rescued scores more that they have found homes for. I wouldn't want to stay the night at their place, but I know that those cats are healthy.

Answer 3

I'm a cat lady & I only have 1 cat. Rather than make six-eight separate trips to have Angel spayed & shots and cheap at that - I went out of my way for 3 trips and sacrificed a lot so that she would have the best treatment.

What the cat ladies or gents do, is take in more than they can afford and handle. Unless you are breeding or have a cattery and can handle them, then cost is no problem. But, when they become to hard to handle, they blame others for giving them this problem.

Then we have those who dump them on the streets like litter.

Answer 4

It sounds like you are describing someone who is either acting as an independent rescue, or a Hoarder. Hoarding is a mental illness, and you have to have compassion for these folks. Most hoarders don't realize they are hoarding, and they normally don't get them fixed and such, so this lady is most likely running her own rescue and using the ASPCA as her medical center. I would call your center and talk to them about his lady and see if they feel it warrants investigation. If she is of the mind to have three of her 30 some odd cats fixed, she most likely has been talked to before about this. Thirty cats is way too many for anyone person or even a family to care for and socialize appropriately, much less afford all the necessary medical care required for herd living cats. I have seven house cats, and they run me about $200 a year per cat for medical maintenance, not to mention seeing to their Highnesses comfort, and there are 4 of us to keep them loved on and socialized. Call your center and talk to one of the animal investigators about her. Thank you for caring.

Answer 5

Nothing you can do without good animal control ordinances. I'm amazed they offer free spay / neuter even for 3 animals. Wish they were here.

Your only option is to get active with your local government and see how to put animal control ordinances on the books. And then work on them hiring a few animal control officers or training their police officers how to properly deal with animals.

This woman is going to have a bigger cat problem in the near future. Hopefully she is spaying the females first.

Answer 6

As long as they take care of their cats I think it is fine.

When they have several in a home it can be just plain unsanitary. I think women get cats for emotional reasons that I do not quite understand.

Yeah, someone needs to call animal control to go to her house. Those cats do not stand a chance with her keeping them that way and not neutering them and it is a public safety issue if she is not getting them their shots, etc. It is cruelty of the worst order.

Answer 7

Jessica had the right answer. There is a mental illness referred to as Hoarding. I believe it affects more women than men. Collecting cats is one example of the illness. It is not being kind or loving to have 30 cats. Crowding of animals encourages disease, bacteria spread among the cats from feces would be common, and unaltered animals will reproduce.

More importantly, one person cannot socialize and love thirty cats. Not if she worked from dawn to dusk. It would take more than one person to clean the cat boxes, floors, counters, every flat spot that a cat could find open to sit.

We may understand this cat lady's illness, but to be concerned about her situation of housing 30 cats is not judgemental. In fact, it is unethical to condone her actions. We, as a society, have a moral duty to act to rescue cats from people who are abusing them with their "love".

Answer 8

hold on one minute!! not all "cats Ladies" are bad! i know one! she has way more then 30 cats!!! they are very well cared for, fixed and all shots!! her house is very clean and she pays for a spay & nuture program for others out of her own pocket!! plus strays!!! i fostered for her 3 years before i moved out of state!!! and last of all, she would never judge people like you all are!!! if the animals are love and cared for, she'd pay what ever it cost for these animals to be fixed, shots and meds. if they are ill!!

Answer 9

yea, I definetley dont like people that get 30 cats or more and dont take care of them! I mean I have 5 cats but I take care of all them and I also feed local neighborhood cats and some kittens cause people dont feed their own animals and let them reproduce!

Answer 10

If she needs help to spay/neuter, then there is no way she is adequately caring for that many cats. There ought to be way to find out her address and file a complaint. Do you have any friends at that shelter? Someone ought to know you if you drop off donations. I hate it when I see those Animal Cops shows on TV and there is some individual with a horde of animals living in terrible conditions and eating junk for food. Dollars to donoughts, she thinks she is doing some sort of work to save them. Probably has a bunch of cats with runny noses and pusy eyes, that she is trying to treat with some home remedy.

I'll say a prayer for those cats, and you see what you can do and we will both hope for the best for the sake of those poor cats.