Forty cats and kittens have been surrendered to the BC SPCA in an apparent case of animal hoarding at a Vancouver home.
The animal welfare organization said in a news release Tuesday that its special provincial constables received a report indicating a high number of cats on a single property recently.
Officers arrived to find the cats living among piles of garbage and feces with inadequate access to water, lack of ventilation and high levels of ammonia from urine. The kittens were found covered in fleas to the point of becoming anemic.
The property owner, who has been charged in the past under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, surrendered the felines, who are now being cared for at SPCA branches and foster homes across the Lower Mainland.
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Charges will likely be recommended, said Lorie Chortyk, BC SPCA general manager.
“The owners did the right thing by surrendering these cats as it was clear that the situation had gotten out of control for everyone involved,” Chortyk said.
“Animal hoarding is considered a mental health disorder that causes suffering for both humans and animals.”
The owner has not been named, as charges have not yet been laid.
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