Story of cats found in bins made up in ‘act of desperation’
Man who brought animals to shelter admits they belonged to family member
The director of a Calgary animal shelter said more than a dozen cats are recovering, after the man who turned them in admitted he made up the story about finding the animals stuffed inside two storage bins on the side of an Alberta highway earlier this week.
Deanna Thompson with the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society said the man contacted them on Thursday, telling volunteers he had found two discarded plastic bins full of 15 cats and kittens.
The man told the shelter he discovered the bins — with air holes punched out — duct-taped shut near train tracks between Erskine and Stettler.
The cats, many suffering from respiratory issues, were taken to the shelter, where workers began caring for them in hopes of finding them permanent homes.
But Thompson said the man has changed his tune about how the animals came under his care, admitting to the shelter that they belonged to a family member who was unable to properly care for them.
“I think his intentions were good … I’m glad we don’t have some monster out there throwing cats in a ditch,” Thompson said. “Wrong way to go about it, but at the end of the day, he did mean well for the cats.”
Thompson said the man “felt sick to his stomach” when he heard a radio news story about the cats, leading him to contact the shelter and “come clean” about what really happened.
“These were family members’ cats that were in a bad situation in the home,” Thompson said. “And for the children and for the cats’ sake, he needed to move them and was struggling to find a shelter that had capacity, and therefore made up the story.”
She said it was an “act of desperation” by the man, but the cats are now in better living conditions and recovering from their illnesses.
Alberta SPCA spokesman Dan Kobe said there is still an active investigation into the case.
“If we find that someone should be held responsible for causing distressed animals, then we’ll lay charges,” Kobe said Saturday.
Kobe said he wasn’t aware if police were looking into the false report, and an Alberta RCMP spokesman said he was not aware if Mounties were investigating the report.
Kobe said it’s fairly common for someone who is trying to surrender animals to be told that the agency they’ve approached simply doesn’t have the room, adding that rescue organizations are dealing with a lot of cats and their shelters are at or near capacity.
Thompson said there is a “crisis” with cats in Alberta shelters, adding pet owners should have their pets spayed or neutered to cut down on the number of abandoned animals and take pressure off the shelter system.
“The cats are safe, and that’s the most we can do. I think, if anything, it shines a light on the problem … we have with cats right now in our province.”
To report a case of animal cruelty, contact the Alberta SPCA. For more information on AARCS and how you can help animals in need, visit www.aarcs.ca.