CALGARY – An animal rescue crew saved two dozen severely neglected cats from a house south of Calgary on Wednesday.
The home has now been condemned and all 23 cats, including nine kittens, are being cared for by the McKnight Veterinary Hospital.
“As soon as they walk in they were meowing at our feet,” said RJ Bailot of Pound Rescue, “no food in the house whatsoever.”
Pound Rescue was called in after the couple who lived in the home, suspected hoarders, were evicted and the home was deemed uninhabitable.
“The house was in deplorable conditions but the animals were in awful health, they were just starving,” says Raj.
“You can just see all the fecal matter and it hasn’t been changed in months.”
All of the cats were extremely malnourished while others were suffering from other injuries as well — one of the females had a twisted leg that was rubbed raw from dragging it along the ground.
“She’s got the pain meds on board, we’ll be able to feel her leg and see what’s going on and if amputation is required,” says Dr. Shelby Kimura, McKnight Veterinary Hospital.
The mass rescue is the third of its kind in the last month – Pound Rescue has also recently saved 20 cats from another home. The volunteer organization has a no kill policy and with so many calls, it’s overwhelmed.
“It’s sad because we are in a state right now where we are at capacity, all our foster homes full, we have over 200 cats in our care, so it really puts a dent in what we can do,” says Raj.
For now, the organization says it will help the animals it can with plenty of food and medicine.
The veterinary bill for this rescue will be in the thousands of dollars. Those interested in helping out with the bill can donate at www.poundrescue.com.
Once nursed back to health many of the cats will be available for adoption.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.