The BC SPCA will be recommending animal-cruelty charges after recently rescuing 17 cats from a Fraser Valley home.
In a press release on Tuesday (Feb. 17), Matt Affleck – senior director of animal protection services – said the case is “one of the most difficult and troubling” in recent memory.
He said animal protection officers visited the property on Jan. 29 after being alerted to cats living in “horrible conditions.”
“The ammonia odour was so strong that it permeated the air outside the home,” Affleck said.
“When we went inside, it was far worse than we imagined. We found 17 cats in dog crates, all in distress, living in appalling conditions. It appeared they had been abandoned.”
He said a bedroom of the home where it appeared the cats had at one time been housed was “saturated with urine and feces,” and the remains of three cats were found.
A dead puppy was found in a padlocked crate inside the garage, Affleck said.
He said some of the crates had as many as eight cats living in them.
“The flooring of the crates was completely covered in feces and urine. The cats were huddled together in the corner,” he said.
“It was so bad when we were removing the cats from the crates to place them in clean carriers, we noticed urine dripping off their fur. When officers tried to move the crates, they appeared to be stuck to the floor by all the waste.”
There was no food or water present, and all the cats were very thin and dehydrated, Affleck said.
They were all taken immediately to the nearest veterinary clinic for assessment and treatment.
Once they were cleared, they were taken to an SPCA shelter, where they received further medical care from a team of veterinarians.
“This team cares for rescued cats frequently, but these poor cats were the worst case they had ever experienced. One cat had a large piece of feces stuck to the end of his tail,” Affleck said.
He said there were only three cats that did not require a veterinarian-supervised feeding plan to help them safely gain weight.
SPCA staff provided six small meals throughout the day for each cat and monitored them closely.
One of the cats was identified as having possible pyometra – a serious and life-threatening infection of the uterus – and she was scheduled for an emergency spay the day after arriving in the BC SPCA’s care.
Three of the cats – a kitten and two adult cats – tested positive for panleukopenia (feline distemper), a highly contagious viral disease, and they were humanely euthanized, Affleck said.
The remainder of the cats were quarantined and monitored for two weeks. They were made available for adoption starting on Feb. 13, and all but four of them found homes.
Affleck said animal-cruelty charges will be recommended to BC Prosecution Service.
Black Press Media has reached out to the BC SPCA to confirm from which Fraser Valley community the cats were seized.
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