 Hoarding - 40 cats
Carterville, IL (US)Date: Aug 19, 2005
Local Map: available
Disposition: Not Charged
Abuser names unreleased
|
|
Michael Flickinger opened the door to his new tenant's rental house on move-in day and found 40 cats. The situation went from bad to worse when the cat owner left town and no animal shelters would agree to take the 40 felines.
Flickinger, who lives only part of the year in Southern Illinois, said he is more interested in home construction than in rental property. Now he is even less interested in leasing out any of his Southern Illinois property.
He said he arrived at his rental property on Illinois Avenue in Carterville on the morning of Aug. 19. His new tenant, who was moving from Marion, was evidently between trips, he said. He entered the house to take care of some last-minute maintenance concerns and discovered the cats.
"I told her (when she arrived), 'how could you possibly think I wouldn't notice 40 cats?'" he said. He also told her she wouldn't be moving in after all.
That was the last time he saw her and the last time he has heard from her, he said. He checked with her daughter, who works in Carbondale, and was told that his would-be tenant had taken her deposit money and left the state.
"I'm kind of on my own here," he said, referring to his sudden custodianship of the house full of cats.
The woman also left her furniture, clothing and personal possessions in a shed on the property.
"Everything she owns is here in this shed," Flickinger said.
The cats are currently in a 12-foot by 12-foot dog pen that has been cat-proofed.
Vicky Wingate, a friend of Flickinger who formerly worked with the woman with the cats, said she knew the woman for three years and had no idea she had so many cats.
Neither Wingate nor Flickinger knew what to do when they learned there was no room at any animal shelter for the cats.
"I've called everywhere," Wingate said. "We've managed to find foster homes for 10 of them. They keep telling us they'll take more when they have more room."
But there's no guarantee when that will be.
Patti Ortale, an independent animal rescuer, has been helping place the cats.
"Williamson County politics doesn't want to take care of cats," she said, frustrated with the situation. "They'd rather shoot them."
She said Flickinger admitted to her his initial impulse was to prop open a door and let the cats run. However, he is trying instead to find homes for the cats.
After striking out at the animal shelters, he eventually got the Williamson County Animal Shelter to agree to take the cats 10 at a time. The catch was that, after holding them three days, the cats would be euthanized. So far, Flickinger is trying to avoid that option.
"I could have had 20 cats put to sleep by now, but I really love animals," he said. "I'd really like to place these cats. I don't want to see these animals put to sleep unnecessarily."
Ortale said the woman is an animal hoarder. She said animal hoarders are those who take on more animals than they can reasonably take care of.
"It's a mental illness," she said. "They think they are saving the animals from something. It happens so gradually they don't realize their house smells like animal urine. It's a very sad problem."
Ortale said the lessons to be learned are, for animal owners, to spay and neuter their animals. For landlords, she said, speaking from her own experience as a landlord, to specify how many animals a tenant can have and to require the animals to be spayed or neutered as part of the lease contract.
Ortale, Wingate and other volunteers are taking turns feeding, watering and cleaning up after the cats. Ortale said most of the care has been at their own expense, though some donations have been made.
The cats have been neglected, with the most obvious health problems related to fleas and ear mites, though some are also crippled. An area veterinarian, who asked to remain anonymous, was on hand to check over the cats. He told Ortale most of the cats were malnourished, and at least five need major medical attention.
Most of the cats are young adults. White, gray and gray and white are the most common colors.
There are about half a dozen cats that appear to be purebred Siamese cats. They are currently in rescue foster homes and most remain available for adoption. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top References« Back to Search Results
|
