Authorities remove nearly 150 cats from Waukesha Co. home, dozens dead
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Melissa McCrady reports. Video by wtmj.com
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WAUKESHA - Authorities have removed nearly 150 cats from a home in Waukesha County.
Most of them were in such bad shape they had to be euthanized.
The rest, though, are recovering and up for adoption.
"Something like this is just difficult because, had we been brought in sooner, we could have saved a lot more lives," said Lynn Olenik, the executive director of HAWS, the Humane Animal Welfare Society.
That group pulled 144 cats from one woman's farm.
All but 50 had to be euthanized. Many others were found dead on the property.
"A lot of the cats were in deplorable conditions from not being fed recently, very little water and also a number of wounds, sores and infections that have been ongoing," said Olenik.
"I think you run into a problem with (cat hoarding) in Waukesha County because you have a lot of rural areas."
She says that if you know someone with signs of animal hoarding, there are ways to help.
People can call places like HAWS or various government health and humane service organizations.
"People usually start off by trying to do the right thing by collecting these animals and taking them out of the environment, or taking them out of places where they aren't cared for or loved, but then it goes horrendously wrong," explained Olenik.
HAWS wants help caring for 50 surviving cats. They are asking for help with food and litter donations.
Many of the cats have been brought up for adoption.
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