A total of 37 cats were seized from the Woodmont Street apartment, whose tenant recently was evicted by the landlord. The conditions inside the apartment were straight out of "a horror scene," Riga said. "They were deplorable. There was feces everywhere," she said.
But the animals were in surprisingly good shape, all things considered. "They're stinky and they did have fleas ... (but) they were definitely fed," Riga said.
The cats include a couple of day-old kittens that are small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. The animals will be given time to get acclimated to their temporary home at T.J. O'Connor's Cottage Street facility before being spayed and neutered and given rabies shots.
The former tenant of the Woodmont Street apartment hasn't been charged in connection with the animal hoarding case. "With hoarding cases, they're medically and mentally ill. I don't think it's malicious," Riga said.
The landlord contacted T.J. O'Connor officials on Saturday to report an estimated 10 cats still living inside the apartment, which had to be professionally cleaned. Once crews got inside, though, they quickly realized they were dealing with a clear-cut case of hoarding.
"There was well more than 10 cats. We've been grabbing them by hand and trapping them for the past three days," Riga said Monday evening.
More information about the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center is available on Facebook or online at www.tjoconnoradoptioncenter.com.
(MassLive - October 07, 2014)
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