Toronto Animal Services was approached to assist with the investigation when neighbors began to complain about the circumstances of an apartment in a high-rise building in Toronto. They rapidly came to the conclusion that the situation was far too difficult for them to manage alone, so they requested assistance from a number of rescuers.
Toronto Cat Rescue readily agreed to assist when they received the call, but they were unprepared for what they saw when they arrived at the residence on Saturday.
There were 300 cats living in the little two-bedroom flat.
It’s absurd to think that 300 cats could fit in a two-bedroom flat, and for the rescuers to see it in person made it much more absurd.
The conditions inside the apartment were unlike any they had ever seen before, and everyone was baffled at how the situation had gotten to that point.
“It was a very difficult place to spend any time,” Belinda Vandersluis, executive director of Toronto Cat Rescue, told The Dodo. “The smell was overwhelming and it was just an overwhelming place to be — besides the fact that there were 300 cats there.”
With such little space, there were cats in absolutely every corner of the apartment, strewn about the living room and piled together in the bathtub. Any place a cat could find to occupy, they would, and it was painfully clear that each and every cat needed to be rescued from that apartment as soon as possible.
The cats were taken out of the flat in several waves, one by one. Toronto Cat Rescue took up 80 cats and helped in removing 187 animals from the unit. All 300 animals are now securely in the hands of rescues and foster homes, receiving the love and attention that is hard to obtain when you’re one of 300 cats. The final 100 or so cats were taken during the following few days.
Both physically and psychologically, the cats are in unexpectedly good form, according to Vandersluis. There wasn’t a generalized cat panic with cats racing all over the place; there were simply a lot of cats, and they were surprisingly amiable.
The 80 cats taken in by Toronto Cat Rescue are now happily in foster homes and doing wonderfully considering where they came from. Some of the cats are a bit underweight, and some are shy, but for the most part they’re a shockingly healthy, well-adjusted group.
Some of the cats taken in were pregnant and due to give birth any day, and even they are thriving in their loving foster homes. For such a crazy situation, the cats are all doing well, and the rescue can’t wait until they’re ready to go off and find their forever homes.
They are “playing, eating, have no fleas or worms, and have no medical or dental problems,” according to Vandersluis.
The cats will be placed up for adoption and will finally experience what it’s like to have a devoted, caring home once they have been spayed, neutered, and given their vaccinations, as well as seeming healthy and well-adjusted.
