SPCA called to two to three cat hoarding cases a month
Investigators rescue 127 cats from Dartmouth home this week
The chief inspector for the province's SPCA says the agency gets two to three cat hoarding calls a month, although the rescue of 127 felines earlier this week from a Dartmouth home was an extreme example.
David Ross says the numbers are typically between 20 and 60 cats in a home.
"I know of at least six cases presently in the province where we are dealing with people who have an excessive number of cats that are not well-kept," Ross said.
The owners of the cats seized this week told investigators they started with four or five. But the pets weren't spayed or neutered.
More people than you think end up in this situation, says Linda Felix, who runs a program that helps to spay and neuter cats for owners who can’t afford it.
"People have a notion that the mother won't reproduce with the son but a cat is a cat in the cat world and hormones rage and everybody's pregnant," Felix said. "It’s a huge issue."
Most of Felix's clients have good intentions, she said, and just want to take care of a stray cat.