A tremendous outpouring of support for 100 neglected cats taken from a home northwest of Kenosha has resulted in nearly all of the animals receiving emergency shelter and medical care, authorities said Thursday.
On Tuesday, Health Department workers removed 96 cats, mostly Siamese or Siamese mix, from a home in the 5800 block of 1st Street in Somers, Wis., according to a department worker. Another four were removed from the home early Thursday, officials said.
County officials discovered the cats after investigating neighbors’ complaints of a stench coming from the home.
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All were transported to the Kenosha County Humane Society, a tiny shelter ill-equipped to deal with the onslaught of neglected animals.
After the cats’ plight became public, so much help poured in that a crisis was averted, according to Kirsten Kranz, the humane society’s foster program director.
About 45 cats remained in the society’s care as of late Thursday. Fifteen are available for adoption, while another 20 to 30, Kranz said, have been placed in foster care until they are well enough to be put up for adoption.
“People have been calling and stopping by with cash, food and cat-supply donations,” Kranz said.
An Iowa-based pet-supply company sent the society an e-mail offering free cat litter, while volunteers from the humane society in Dane County picked up 30 of the cats for adoption purposes, she said.
“We had 40 phone calls before we even opened [Thursday],” Kranz said.
Rescue workers reported that although many of the animals had ear mites and upper respiratory infections from living in cramped and unsanitary conditions, most were in surprisingly good shape.
Kranz said only two of the 100 cats were put to sleep “because they were very old and very sick.”