Over 100 cats surrendered, 52 euthanized
West Hialeah, FL (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Sep 22, 2011
County: Miami-Dade

Disposition: Not Charged

Person of Interest: Name Undisclosed

Miami-Dade's Animal Services Department had too much of one thing and not enough of another on Thursday: too many cats, thanks to a West Hialeah hoarder, and too little electricity, due to a massive morning power failure.

Still, with borrowed generators and laptops, workers at the shelter, 7401 NW 74th St., Medley, managed to keep adoptions going.

That included dozens of cats and kittens from a woman who showed up Wednesday to surrender 20 felines, according to Animal Services Director Alex Muñoz.

After a department investigator "asked the right question'' - were there any more at home? - the woman led shelter personnel to a two-bedroom town house where she'd been keeping 114 cats, Muñoz said.

For years, the woman would take in cats from the street and bring them into her West Hialeah home. After a while, the cats began to multiply until she had more than 100 cats living in her apartment. "She took in too many cats and just couldn't take care of them anymore," said Alex Munoz, the director of Animal Services.

According to neighbors like George Correa, there was an awful smell in the area. "Every time I pull up here, it's just this stench that's coming from around here. I thought it was maybe dead cats," said Correa.

All of the cats were alive, but many were sick. They range in size and have different health conditions. One of the felines, a 1-month-old kitten, had so many infections that it could barely open its eyes. Many of the other cats have infections as well. Munoz said, "It's not healthy for the animals to be in those types of conditions. Over 50 percent of them actually have some form of health condition. People need to know when you have that many, it's hard to keep them healthy.'"

By Thursday afternoon, a rescue group from Venice had arranged to take 20 cats, Muñoz said.

The shelter typically houses 300 to 400 cats and dogs per day.

"We're more than full on the cats,'' Muñoz said.

Because the woman wasn't intentionally abusing the animals, and because she surrendered them voluntarily, she won't face cruelty charges, he added.

For more information about adopting cats and dogs from Animal Services, visit miamidade.gov/animals, or call the county government information line at 311 or head to Animal Services, located on Northwest 74th Avenue and 74th Street. The cost of adopting two cats is only $35.

References

« FL State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Miami-Dade County, FL

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