23 cats rescued from hoarding situation found starving and dehydrated after owner evicted
WESTCHESTER COUNTY (WABC) -- The SPCA recently found nearly two dozen sick cats and kittens that they rescued from a hoarding situation in Westchester County.
The animals were found inside the home of someone who was evicted in White Plains, leaving the cats abandoned without proper food and water for weeks.
It wasn't the first time that the organization has rescued a large amount of cats from the same home.
The rescued cats and kittens are still undernourished and skittish as they are being treated at the SPCA Westchester, but they are already in a much better place than they were last week.
"They weren't in good shape, many of the cats, basically they were skin and bones," said Ernest Lungaro with SPCA Westchester.
They were found in squalid conditions and were barely surviving.
Two felines were found dead and another kitten was so desperate for water that she climbed into a toilet.
The location of the home is very familiar to the agency and is a building they have been dealing with for a year.
Eyewitness News covered the story last February when over 40 cats were removed from a hoarding situation. The apartment was occupied by an elderly woman who was in the midst of being evicted.
That woman was finally relocated last month, but somehow building management failed to notify the SPCA that the apartment was vacant. And whatever cats had been left behind multiplied.
"You couldn't even go in there, it was very difficult to breathe and then with the cats, they made holes in the wall where they were going through the building, some even got down into the basement," Lungaro said.
The cats are now on the road to recovery, but for the SPCA, the situation isn't unique. It typically deals with a handful of hoarding cases each year.
Their message is simple.
"We have a hotline number 24 hours, even if you suspect it, just give us a call, we can make contact w/ the owners and in the early stages, we can take care of it," Lungaro said.
The number to call is 914-941-2896 and the 24/7 hotline for enforcement is 914-941-7797.
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