88 malnourished cats found in Ypsilanti Township home

[alp227]

The Humane Society of Huron Valley rescued 88 malnourished cats from an Ypsilanti Township home on Tuesday in what officials say was the worst animal hoarding case they’ve seen in recent years.

The HSHV’s Animal Cruelty and Rescue Team plans to work with prosecutors to seek criminal charges against the owner, according to a news release. No information on the owner was released.

The cats — which came in sick, malnourished and flea-infested — are now under medical care.

“The house was beyond disgusting, with feces, flies and garbage everywhere,” Matt Schaecher, director of HSHV’s Animal Cruelty and Rescue Department, said in the news release. “There were fragile little cats in every nook and cranny of the house. I literally pulled four cats out of the silverware drawer.”

full: http://www.freep.com/article/20130925/NEWS05/309250146/ypsilanti-township-home-88-cats-malnourished-animal-hoarding

[GreenEyedLefty]

1. They have a wish list on Amazon...

...if anyone is interested in donating for the care of these cats.

[link:http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/2S3Q1INV90NXB?ie=UTF8&tag=humsocofhur06-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325|]

(This is also the shelter where we got our dog.)

And apparently I'm too dumb to make a link.

[Cal Carpenter]

2. One of our dogs came from there too

A very good organization.

What a sad story.

[Beaverhausen]

3. here's the link

http://www.hshv.org/site/PageNavigator/help/wishlist.html#.UkN1pKw_dy0

poor kittehs!!! Hope they all get good homes.

[joeybee12]

4. This gets me so mad...

Hopefully all the kitties find homes.

[mike_c]

5. I hate seeing criminal charges in cases like this....

I hate to think these sorts of cases are malevolent, or that people deliberately keep these animals in order to mistreat them. Hoarding is a sickness, and should not be a crime. It should be treated as an illness, rather than met with animal cruelty charges, unless as a last resort to protect animals from someone who simply cannot control themselves and refuses help repeatedly. Once an animal hoarder is identified, local officials can monitor them to make sure they get help and don't start hoarding again.

my partner and I are cat rescuers. This story absolutely breaks my heart.