Cat hoarding causes cruelty to kittens

Perhaps it goes without saying but this story from the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association (VOKRA), reminds us how the neglectful nature of cat hoarders leads to a huge amount of distress and cruelty to kittens who are brought into a disgusting and unhealthy world.

VOKRA was recently inundated with almost 2 dozen kittens and cats. Some of the female cats were pregnant which is another typical symptom of cat hoarding. Nothing is done to sterilise the cats which is the reason why they end up with so many and they are often severely neglected.

Karen Duncan, the co-founder of VOKRA paints a grim picture of how the kittens had barely survived. She said that if they had not been rescued, they could have died the next day. She said:

"We had to just sit here and comb all day getting the fleas out. Fleas were jumping directly on them, it was horrifying, actually."

The rescue centre has given them lots of vitamins and food because they were not only riddled with fleas but starving as well. Newborn kittens are already incredibly vulnerable when they are brought into the world even in a good home. Imagine how many kittens die quite soon after being born in the home of a cat order because the mother is unable to cope because she's too sick and the mentally ill person can't cope either.

Kitten rescued from a hoarder in Vancouver. Photo: Screenshot from CTV video.

VOKRA said that their veterinary bill is insane. I was looking for an actual figure but they don't reveal it. It will be shocking which is why cat rescues always reach out to the public when they are involved in rescuing a large number of cats and kittens from a hoarder.

The problem with this cat hoarding situation is that it is compounded by the back story which is the coronavirus pandemic. This rescue and others have been unable to do a lot of fundraising. And people don't have so much money to give because many are stretched quite thin.

And because the pandemic has reduced access to veterinary care it appears that some owners are reaching out to cat rescue such as VOKRA for help. And less cats are being sterilised which is going to lead to more pressure on cat rescues to pick up the pieces with unwanted cats procreating. This is also leading to more cats being dumped.

Duncan said that, "It's pretty horrific this year". They recently rescued a couple of brother kittens from a blackberry bush. A volunteer said that:

"They were just screaming their little heads off in the blackberry bushes it's pretty obvious that someone just dumped them there to be a little coyote snack, which is horrible."

Source: CTV News.