N.S. animal shelter rescues total of 94 cats from one home

An animal shelter in Dartmouth, N.S., has rescued an additional 70 cats from a single home, after removing two dozen from the same property last month.

Liesje Somers-Blonde, the executive director of the Bide Awhile Animal Shelter Society, said a total of 94 cats and kittens have been removed from the property in what was likely a hoarding situation.

The shelter became aware of the situation when a community rescuer acted as an intermediary with the homeowner. 

It's something that's more common than one would think, Somers-Blonde told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia on Wednesday.

"I do believe that some of the most biggest hearts in the world are sometimes financially unable to care for the beings that they bring into their world," Somers-Blonde said.

But, she said, many people don't realize that vaccines, deworming, microchipping, and spaying or neutering is all part of being a responsible pet owner.

Somers-Blonde said the shelter initially took in 24 cats from the property in early August, most of which were kittens in need of immediate care. 

That's when they sent out a plea for help, looking for donations to help with their care.

Somers-Blonde said she was hoping to raise about $5,000, but that was far exceeded as donations kept coming in. The shelter has since received more than $60,000 in just a few weeks — more than enough to cover the cost of care for 24 animals.

"As the money kept coming in, we kept the lines of communication open with this rescuer, and when she said she could get more [cats], we said, 'Go ahead.'"

The shelter then took in an additional 38 cats, including eight kittens that required bottle feeding. Those kittens went to the Pick of the Litter Society for specialty care. 

The shelter then brought in another 30 cats from the same property. Somers-Blonde said she doesn't believe there are any more cats at the location.

Cats were generally healthy

Experts say an animal hoarder often has a desire to rescue an animal or provide for it, even if they're doing the opposite.

It's likely what happened in this case, Somers-Blonde said.

She said the cats that came from the property are friendly, loving and playful. They're not malnourished, they're generally healthy and they appear to have been well cared for.

But steps weren't taken to get them vaccinated, de-wormed, flea and tick-treated or spayed or neutered, which is necessary to prevent the colony from continuing to grow.

Information Morning - NS7:39Animal shelter in Dartmouth works to rescue and adopt out nearly 100 cats

Bide Awhile Animal Shelter sent out a plea for help earlier this month, when 24 kittens arrived at its door. After a successful fundraising campaign, it was able to rescue even more cats — up to a hundred from the same property! We check in to see how the adoption process is going.

"That is all part of education. And so if you know better, you do better … it happens so quickly," she said.

"We've said in the past, and we will keep saying that one unspayed female cat can have a colony of 50 in 16 months."

Somers-Blonde said work is underway to get the animals their proper treatments and procedures. She said the shelter has been working with the Eastern Passage Village Vet and the Uniacke Lakes Animal Hospital to make sure that happens.

In the meantime, many of the cats are being fostered, while others are starting to be adopted out. Fifteen of the 94 have been adopted out as of Wednesday.