More than 100 cats were removed from a St. Albert home over the course of several weeks.
The SPCA said the 143 cats removed from the home were in relatively good condition when they were found.
“Certainly there were a lot of cats and they lived in a situation that was less than ideal with so many in one house,” Dan Kobe, communications manager with the Alberta SPCA, said.
There was urine and feces everywhere when we first arrived although that situation improved over time.”
Peace officers went back to the home over the course of five weeks and were able to remove the cats. During the first trip on Dec. 12, the officers removed 35 cats but the situation became emotional and stressful for the owner.
Officers then thanked the homeowner for his time and planned to return the following week.
Kobe said the cats were well-loved by the man who owned them.
“The cats were well fed, they were largely well cared for and they were friendly. And it was hard to catch them to take them,” Kobe said.
Ken Dean, director of animal protection services for the Alberta SPCA said they prefer to work with the homeowners when improving conditions for animals.
“The gradual approach to removing the cats allowed the owner to properly process what was happening, and to reduce the shock of having the cats removed,” said Dean.
At one point, the owner was being so cooperative that he even delivered two of the more difficult to catch cats to the SPCA offices.
“When we work with the owner we are in a better situation to share important information about animal welfare to ensure the circumstances do not return,” said Dean.
“This type of approach has been shown to reduce recidivism for those who accumulate large numbers of animals.”
Seven cats were left with the homeowner because there is no cat bylaw restricting the amount of cats one person can have.
“There's no restriction on having cats so we weren't in a position to take all the cats and in situations like this if the animal owner is left with some animals, it reduces the chances of going back to what would be a hoarding situation with too many animals,” Kobe said.
The Alberta SPCA expects the cost of vet care and boarding for these animals to be more than $25,000 and they are accepting donations to help off-set the cost of this investigation.
Most of the cats were taken to the Humane Society to be cared for.
“All cats originally went to the Humane Society where they looked at them and check them over. Every cat that needed to be was spayed or neutered,” Kobe said.
“We left the number of cats with them for re-homing and 87 other cats were then distributed to other agencies for re-homing.
Kobe said sending 143 to one shelter would be a lot so they were dispersed to four different shelters, including the Kirby Safe Team, Alberta Animal Services and WHARF Rescue.
Kobe said these types of situations are not unusual and in 2019 the SPCA had 10 files where there were 20 or more cats in one home.
Peace officers believed that breeding within the house was a significant contributor to the number of cats.
“This case serves as a reminder about the importance of spaying and neutering to help control the pet population. When it comes to cats, research shows kittens can have these surgeries as young as six weeks old with no adverse health effects,” the SPCA said in a media release.
