Animal rescue groups rescuing over 100 cats from Okanagan hoarding situation

Photo: PawsNClaws

Close to 100 cats and kittens are in the process of being rescued from an Okanagan hoarding and dumping situation, with rescuers doing the work in need of donations to help care for the many animals. 

Joeline Laliberte of Paws n Claws Rescue in Oliver discovered the situation when she was notified of a request for homes for a number of cats, thinking she would be taking around 10 to her shelter. 

"I'm quite busy on Facebook and usually, I'm tagged in any type of cat situation, animal situation, and so a post with a picture was put up with multiple cats, I counted probably 10 to 15 in the picture, all different sizes and ages,” Laliberte said.

But things were much worse than how they appeared in the picture. Laliberte said someone who visited the property to adopt a cat gave her a heads up, "they'd only seen half of what I ended up seeing, but by what they told me was there were multiple, multiple cats living in a barn.” 

Sadly, Laliberte discovered there were far more cats on the property, inside and out, in difficult conditions. 

While the barn was heated and the family was trying their best, the cats weren't being fed the best diet, had no vaccinations and were not being properly spayed or neutered.

“I saw 30-40 cats living in the barn, they kept the barn warm with a wood stove and were trying to feed the cats with whatever available means they had,”  Laliberte explained. “When I went into the home, there were many many more, every door that I opened, there were 20 to 30 cats in every room.”

A lot of the cats were from an ongoing problem of people continually dumping them off at the property, according to what the family told Laliberte.

Luckily, the cats are not in too bad of condition and are fairly well socialized. Most seemed to have small infections or common diseases that happen with cats in hoarding situations. The family was making a significant effort to care for the animals.

“We've definitely seen worse conditions,” Laliberte said. “I told the family what I did and I was there to help as best I could...That day, I ended up taking about 20 cats off the property, the ones that I thought were in need the most and then I told them I would be back.” 

Laliberte brought out bags of cat food and other supplies to help sustain the cats living there before they could all be picked up.

Other Okanagan animal rescue groups like Critteraid, Cat Therapy and Rescue, Shuswap Paws Rescue Society and more have also stepped in to help. Volunteers have been working for days to trap the more skittish animals and transport them to safe rescue locations. 

Cat Therapy out of Vancouver is attending on Thursday. Laliberte estimates they'll be taking around 50 cats to their rescue centre.

“We estimated it to be a little over 100 cats and kittens taken off the property. We’re hoping to have the whole property cleared out by the weekend, if there's any left after that I will go back up and collect those.”

Every one of the rescued cats will be spayed or neutered, a process that Laliberte wants to remind the cat-owning public is so important in ensuring situations like this don't happen. 

The rescue groups will be making sure something like this doesn’t happen at the residence again and will check in on the home to ensure that the "few" cats they are keeping are spayed and neutered.

They will also be making a sign for the family's gate to let others know that it isn't a dumping ground for unwanted pets, along with information on where to go and who to contact properly. 

Donations are needed to help with medical and care costs, as well as for kitten food, litter, or any cat supplies which can be dropped off at Paws N Claws Rescue at 5829 Sawmill Road in Oliver. 

“Anything I can't use or do not need at the time I will be sharing with the other rescues,” Laliberte explained. 

Monetary donations can be made to [email protected] or find out more about fostering and adoptions here. As a small home-based rescue, it may take some time before Laliberte responds.