Photos via Last Chance Animal Rescue at Facebook
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Rescuers thought the email about a houseful of cats in an abandoned home was a hoax, but it was not. The situation was bad, but 10 cats were rescued and are being helped to begin new and better lives.
A rescuer with Last Chance Animal Rescue, of Waldorf, MD, wrote about the recent rescue in her introduction to a pair of short videos posted to YouTube on Friday. We discovered the same telling of the rescue story posted at Facebook with an album including the photos seen here.
Last Chance writes:
Feb 28, 2014 – One snowy day a few weeks ago, not unlike many days this winter, we received a plea for help by email, so incredible that at first we thought it was a hoax. Sadly, it turned out to be legitimate. A small house had been foreclosed and the owners had left almost a year ago and left 50 cats behind.
We called the realty company to verify the story, and they gave us the address and the keys. We went to the house and found unimaginable horrors. The cats that were left had been without food for weeks and weeks; apparently they had a feeder that stopped coming. You can imagine how the cats had fared; it was not pretty. Sparing you the gory details; the conditions were so dire that respirators were required to enter.
With the help of Friends of Felines, it took three days to trap the 10 kitties that had lived through this horror story. As one can imagine, these kitties were emaciated and scared to death. They needed medical care and some good food which they received once they got to Last Chance Animal Rescue.
The kitties are doing well; they have had medical care and are gaining weight. Some have started to trust humans again and are friendly. A few are even socialized enough to find new homes. Two of these babies went to adoption centers today to start their quest for a new life. Buttercup #8600 and Wesley #8602 are at the Gaithersburg PetSmart and Cleo #8601 will be ready to go to an adoption center tomorrow. Stay tuned to hear about the rest of the gang!
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Two short videos posted online by Nicole Schofer were made as a cat trapped in the house is transferred into a carrier for rescue:
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Last Chance Animal Rescue operates in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. They primarily take in cats from more than 40 high-kill shelters in eight states and provide disaster-relief services for small pets. Last Chance partners with more than 30 PetSmart and Petco stores in the region and provides full service in-store cat adoptions.
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The people who left the cats behind should be charged with animal abuse. They must have been hoarders. Where every they are now they probably have more cats. They need to be stopped.
the feeder should be chared as well. it is horrible to leave cats in this situation with this cold!