new york woman hoards 46 cats
I am a cat lover, always have been and always will be. I rescued a stray once in Houston Texas from the parking lot of ‘Eddie Minnelli’s’ restaurant. I gave my cat the name ‘Minnelli’ and loved him dearly until that horrible day my stupid ex-boyfriend let him out of the apartment. My next kitten ‘Minou” was so small he fit in the palm of my hand. He could flatten himself and squeeze under my bedroom door. When my daughter was born, I found Minou a nice home with a woman who really wanted him. My last cat ‘Sunshine’ liked to slept on my head at night. She did not ‘meow’ like other cats, instead she thought she was a bird and made cute swallow sounds everytime I looked into her turquoise eyes. The point? In ten years, three cats, and I knew them all well.
As a cat lover, there are certain behaviors that leave me wondering what in the hell some people are thinking.
A New York woman was recently evicted from her apartment because she did not pay rent for the last two months, the problem she is now facing is what to do with her 46 cats? All the animal shelters are full and can not take them. She said her life was so bad that only her cats gave her reason to get up in the morning and she would kill herself without them. Okay, so most of us already realize that there are some mental issues at work with this particular lady. Animal hoarding is about fulfilling the needs of the owner – not the animals.
Frankly, it is better for a cat to live on the streets than live in a horded environment. I don’t care how depressed this lady is, if she couldn’t pay her rent then I guess it goes without saying that she couldn’t afforded to have all those cats neutered. Now 46 cats are going to be roaming the streets and they will not know how to take care of themselves, most of them will probably die unless people are willing to step up and adopt them.
April, 2005 a woman in Utah was charged with cat hoarding. She claimed that she had only rescued strays – not true. Many of those cats belonged to people in the neighborhood, some even had microchips which traced them back to their rightful owner.
I found a PETA article on this issue. Does anyone else have any opinions on this matter?
I’m with you…I adore cats (animals in general) but I just can’t see where having so many is good for anyone. If she cant afford her rent, then she can’t possibly afford cat food/supplies for these poor dears. And I can only imagine how filthy/smelly that apt. must be…wouldn’t be at all surprised if the landlord/owners sued her for clean-up costs. Hoarders do have significant mental/emotional issues; hopefully, this lady will get some help now. But those poor cats…too, too sad.