An exterior shot of the Fox Valley Humane Association. April, 14, 2020. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Fox Valley animal shelter has been taken over by cats.
On Friday, the Fox Valley Humane Association in Appleton says it assisted with the rescue of over 100 cats from a home.
The shelter says it’s the largest case of animal hoarding they’ve ever dealt with.
124 cats were rescued from a hoarding situation in Harrison over the weekend.
But Danielle Weninger, animal care manager at the Fox Valley Humane Association, says that number has grown since Friday.
“With a cat that gave birth Friday night, we have about 130 cats, so we’re just listing it as 124 and counting,” said Weninger.
Weninger says it all began on Thursday, when the shelter received a call from its humane officer about a hoarding situation involving around 50 cats.
“When we got there, from the outside you couldn’t really tell anything, but definitely from the inside it’s definitely going to be a mess because it’s hard keeping them clean here, I can only imagine in a home,” said Weninger.
But after the rescue and doing intake at the shelter, that number doubled.
“Pretty much the oldest we suspect is either around six or 4-years-old, definitely not very old at all, and then the youngest being a few days old,” said Weninger.
According to Weninger, this specific hoarding situation began a few years ago.
“She had a few cats and they didn’t get fixed, so that kind of just kept escalating,” said Weninger. “She was trying to deal with it, which is more than understandable and then it kind of got out a hand a few years in.”
Chief Deputy Derek Bries with the Calumet County Sheriff’s Office says no charges have been filed as of Tuesday.
“Given the amount of cats, a lot of times when we’re looking at whether or not we’re going to charge or make a charging decision, a lot of different factors are involved,” said Bries.
Bries says these factors include the cooperation level of the animal owner and the condition of the animals.
“The individual voluntarily surrendered the animals,” said Bries. “In this instance there were a lot of cats involved, however, most of them were in very good health. Some of them just had minor issues which was a good thing.”
With such a large influx, the shelter says it’s in need of supplies and monetary donations.
“We’re definitely looking for litter and wet food and dry food, definitely just any kind of wet food,” said Weninger.
Because of the shelter’s volunteers hard at work, 29 of these cats are already available for adoption, with more expected to be ready later this week.
If you’d like to make a donation to the Fox Valley Humane Association, click here. Click here to see a wishlist.
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