Twenty-four more cats from hoarder home ready for adoption

Animal cruelty prevention officers are still reviewing evidence in a Hamilton hoarding case involving 64 cats.

The Hamilton-Burlington SPCA has revealed few details since it rescued the cats from the undisclosed residence late last month.

However, the evacuees are on the mend and being placed in new homes, CEO Marion Emo says.

As of Tuesday, 14 had been adopted out with 24 more now available. Another 14 are in foster care until they’re healthier, and six will have surgery to remove eyes after serious infections.

“But all of them will have homes. For some, it will take a little longer as they regain their strength or recover from surgery,” Emo said.

A similar situation in Beamsville last year involving at least 100 cats on a neglected rural property ended without charges.

One of the volunteers who rescued those cats is frustrated with the result. “It is unbelievable,” said Dinah Nichol, a founder of Project Save a Cat’s Life.

Nichol said she and others found the cats suffering from disease and in “various stages of starvation.”

Despite this, investigators weren’t able to prove ownership and lacked evidence, which is key in pursuing charges, the Ontario SPCA says.

The Merritt Road property had already been vacant for months with cats roaming freely on the land, Carol Vander Heide, a senior inspector with the OSPCA West Region, said Tuesday. “You have to be able to substantiate ownership of the animals on a property to be able to charge someone going forward,” she said.

Moreover, the kind-hearted efforts of volunteer rescuers inadvertently removed evidence in the Beamsville case, Vander Heide added. “They wanted to help the cats, but that does limit the evidence that supports charges.”

Nichol said a couple of months after that case, she and others encountered a similar situation about a kilometre away.

“I took 24 cats out of there,” she said, noting an older resident had left the property but still returned on occasion. Again, proving ownership was a hurdle, Nichol said. “I think the greater problem is with our laws.”

Animal cruelty prevention officers can press criminal charges under the Criminal Code of Canada or Ontario SPCA Act.

Vander Heide said due process must be followed. “To lay a charge against someone, the evidence must absolutely be there.”

“But all of them will have homes. For some, it will take a little longer as they regain they’re strength or recover from surgery,” MARION EMO CEO, HamiltonBurlington SPCA