More than 100 cats were rescued from three squalid, cluttered homes in the Bronx and Queens this week, officials said.
The three pet owners surrendered the neglected felines to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Thursday, admitting they could no longer care for the fast-growing litters.
After receiving medical exams, the cats, including several pregnant cats and kittens, were taken to an ASPCA recovery facility in Ohio, where they’ll be cared for and put up for adoption.
The ASPCA said in recent months they have seen a city-wide uptick in requests to rescue pets from large-scale animal hoarding and neglect situations.
“Our teams are working tirelessly to provide critical sheltering, medical care, behavioral treatment and enrichment, legal and investigative support, and safety net services to help animals and pet owners in need,” Elizabeth Brandler, vice president of ASPCA Cruelty Response, said in a statement.
More than 100 cats were rescued from deplorable conditions in homes in Queens and the Bronx, according to the ASPCA. (ASPCA)
“We’re grateful to be in a position where we can mobilize at a moment’s notice to ensure the safety of vulnerable animals and, when appropriate, support investigative and prosecutorial efforts to hold animal abusers accountable. When animals are in need, the ASPCA goes there.”
Since June, the group has rescued and rehabilitated more than 300 at-risk animals across the five boroughs in partnership with the NYPD.
In June and July, the ASPCA community engagement team rescued 90 cats living in “substandard” conditions inside two homes in Brooklyn and Queens after the overwhelmed pet owners surrendered the felines.
More than 100 cats were rescued from deplorable conditions in homes in Queens and the Bronx, according to the ASPCA. (ASPCA)
In July, the NYPD executed a search warrant with the ASPCA’s assistance at a Queens home, where they discovered one dead dog. They saved 12 surviving dogs and one cat, who were locked inside crates, living in their feces and urine with no access to food or water. Nine of the pooches were left outside in kennels in sweltering 98-degree temperatures.
The neglected animals’ owner was arrested and charged with a slew of animal cruelty charges including 13 counts of overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals and failure to provide proper food and drink to impounded animals.
Also in July, following a tenant’s eviction, the NYPD and ASPCA discovered nine dead cats inside the filthy, unkempt Queens apartment. Responders rescued and rehabilitated 40 surviving cats from the “unsanitary, dangerous conditions” inside the unit. The NYPD is still investigating the case.
More than 100 cats were rescued from deplorable conditions in homes in Queens and the Bronx, according to the ASPCA. (ASPCA)
In another rescue operation, cops, alongside the ASPCA, rescued 30 animals, including dogs, cats and one pigeon, from a dirty, overcrowded home in Brooklyn. All but one of the animals were locked up in crates. The pet owner was indicted for aggravated cruelty to animals, among other charges.
To work around continued overcrowding in NYC animal shelters, the ASPCA transported over 50 homeless cats to an ASPCA care facility in Ohio to be put up for adoption.
Last year, Animal Care Centers in the city stopped taking in pets after reaching its 1,000-animal limit. As of July, the shelter was only 50 animals away from that threshold.
More than 100 cats were rescued from deplorable conditions in homes in Queens and the Bronx, according to the ASPCA. (ASPCA)
Summer is usually the busiest season for shelters, officials said, as more stray animals, owner surrenders and vulnerable kittens arrive.
The increase in animals entering the shelter reflects the challenges many New Yorkers are facing and not a lack of love for their pets, said Risa Weinstock, president and CEO of Animal Care Centers of NYC.
Every adoption and foster creates space in the shelters for another animal with nowhere else to go,” Weinstock told the News last month.
“As New York City’s open-admission shelter, we remain committed to serving every borough and every community. Right now, we’re asking New Yorkers to be part of the solution by adopting, fostering, or helping us spread the word.”