Missouri officials have removed 150 cats from a hoarding home after receiving a call about a welfare check and now, the animal shelter that took them in is pleading for help clearing space for them.
Someone called in the welfare check on Aug. 28 about a house in Wildwood, about 30 miles west of the City of St. Louis, according to the St. Louis County Police Department.
When officers arrived, a witness told them about a large number of cats inside the home. Officers secured a search warrant and when they went inside, found more than 60 cats in the home, as well as two adults.
St. Louis County Animal Care & Control officers were called to the scene to remove the cats, as well as the St. Louis County Problem Properties Unit.
Reporters from television station KSDK spoke to Carolyn Haydon, who said her mother, father and another family member lived in the home. According to Haydon, the other individual living in the home kept other family members away for years.
Haydon told the outlet she suspected ongoing elder and animal abuse and had tried to get police involved for over a year. When Haydon’s mother died, and the home’s residents were at the funeral home, her brother went to the home and took photos to show police the condition of the house.
Haydon told KSDK there were multiple dead cats found in a deep freezer as well. She also said she is concerned about her father and her family has hired a lawyer. They believe their mother may have been neglected, which led to her death.
The Animal Protective Association of Missouri, or the APA, also shared news Wednesday about the large cat rescue online and in a news release.
Calling the rescue the “largest hoarding case in our history,” the APA said online that it was caring for 137 cats rescued from one single hoarding case. The agency then posted an update Friday afternoon and said the number had risen to 150 cats.
“We urgently need your help,” the agency wrote. “This significant influx, combined with the seasonal spike in kitten intake, has pushed the total number of cats in our care to nearly 500!”
The APA said it took in 1,154 animals in August and both of its locations were full of cats, many of which are on legal holds. That means they can’t be released just yet.
So far, they’ve rescued kittens as young as two weeks old, KSDK reported.
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