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.

Photos of Cats who Survived Westberry Cat Hoarding Tragedy

Photos of Surviving Cats From Julianne Westberry Cat Hoarding Tragedy

This is a cross-post of cats that have survived a cat hoarder's worst efforts to kill them through neglect. The woman is the now infamous: Julianne Westberry.  It is a terrible story that has been well documented on the main website.

Here are the cats. More cats were found dead than alive at this cold-hearted cat hoarder's property. These are the lucky ones:

If anyone wants to adopt leave a comment.

Cat Hoarders Don't Care About the Cats

If more proof were needed and I don't think it is, the Kansas City cat hoarder is a good example of how people who collect cats and fail to care for them really don't care about the health and welfare of their cats despite what they profess.

This is a lady who rented out to apartments in Kansas City but didn't live in them herself. About 70 cats lived in them but, of course, in complete squalor and utterly neglected by this woman.

She actually called the authorities herself in order to get help so she was able to think rationally and at that moment was belatedly concerned about her cats but now a month later with most of the cats gone but some of them still roaming around the area she has failed to clean up her flats which are apparently still in a state of high squalor and smelling to heaven because of the urine and faeces inside them and I suppose other mess and detritus.

Not only does this woman not really care about her cats' welfare she appears to be disregarding the views of her neighbours who obviously want a decent place to live in but are forced to confront the ammonia smell seeping out of the flats and some remaining cats who look unhealthy which is disturbing to any decent person.

The city's authorities say they're still trying to trap some of the cats inside the apartment, which I find unbelievable.  This is a month later after all.  They say they have run out of traps to catch the cats.  I find that somewhat unbelievable as well.

The residents in the area are having to step in and do some cat catching themselves but this is skilled work and apparently only one cat has been trapped.  The authorities say it is the responsibility of the apartment owner to clean the inside of the apartments.

However, I would have thought that health and safety regulations would give the local authorities the power to step in and clean up themselves and apparently they have hinted that they might do this.

The point is this, though, the cat hoarder has shown antisocial tendencies, a disregard for others on top of a blindness about the consequences of her activities, namely, damaging the health of cats that she purportedly wishes to help.