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CBS 2 New York reported on a case Thursday where a large number of cats left behind in a New York City apartment on Manhattan’s West 86th Street, less than a block from Central Park, were rescued after their elderly guardian was evicted and neighbors called a nearby animal hospital.
Animal General veterinary hospital staff visited the filthy apartment to collect the cats, then fed, vaccinated and checked them out back at the hospital.
23 cats – 17 adults and 6 kittens were rescued in the initial effort, according to CBS 2. The rescuers planned to return to collect the remaining cats. Animal General said at Facebook today that two more cats had been caught, writing “2 were trapped today. The 25 friendly cats were caught yesterday. Today was just trapping. We got one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This big boy [a black cat whose picture was taken while he was peering out from a trap] was caught in the afternoon. He was neutered and his several fresh bite wounds were medically treated. The efforts will resume next week. From here on out it will be trapping these wily fellows.”
While the CBS 2 report indicated there were a few more cats inside and a couple of cats outside, Animal General says there are more outside. They posted the photo of an outdoor space seen below, and wrote: “We found a neighbor who has been feeding these cats for years and can provide us access to the backyard when we lose access from the apt.”
“There are more. The neighbor has been trying to spay and neuter. She’s been doing as much as one person can do against over 30 cats. She will help us in our TNR efforts as this continues to unfold.”
“She has gotten several of them out of there. She has neutered many others. She had no idea how many were in apartment. She only had a few regulars, true ferals, before they all scattered from the apartment.”
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A story like this could have resulted in tragedy had the animals gone to the NYC AC&C shelter, where rescuers scramble every day to save cats from the euth list, knowing that they cannot all be spared.
Animal General says none of the cats will be put down. CBS 2’s report says that despite a few respiratory infections, most of the cats and kittens are healthy and ready for adoption. By Thursday night some were already in foster care.
NYC Urgent cats at Facebook posted calls for people to foster the cats and created a photo album on Thursday: 20 cats from a hoarding situation in NYC need URGENT help! At the time of posting, several of the cats were listed as being fostered by Anjellicle Cats. The others still needed foster homes.
Updates will likely be made at the Animal General Facebook page.
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