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YORKTOWN, Ind. – Late Tuesday afternoon, animal control officers were called to confiscate at least 50 cats from a Yorktown home.
Muncie Animal Care and Services and the Delaware County Health Department were on site at the 1700 block of South Oakdale Drive Tuesday evening.
Officials reported poor conditions in the house; The shelter could be seen stepping outside in full protective clothing to catch their breath, and the smell was noticeable from the street.
Ethan Browning, the shelter’s director, said they removed 36 cats from the apartment on Tuesday after several hours of trying to catch the animals.
He said animal control officers would be back at the residence on Wednesday to try to catch the remaining animals that were scattered and hidden around the house. Control officers set up cage traps overnight to try to round up the remaining cats.
“There’s probably at least a dozen more hiding there,” Browning said.
According to the officials, the conditions in the residence were neither suitable for human settlement nor for animals.
“I’d like to hold someone accountable, preferably the owner of the cats,” Browning said.
Browning said the cats did not belong to the elderly resident of the house, and officials instead looked at someone else who may have left the cats there. Further details were not available on Tuesday evening; The case was transferred to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.
Browning said the cats were in pretty good shape despite the condition of the house, although most of them likely suffered from parasites and bugs, and some looked malnourished.
Two other cats found by shelter officials had died, one of them badly decayed.
That rescue will put a strain on the shelter’s resources, according to Browning, who said the facility is now at full capacity with the influx. The director added that the shelter needed wire cages, cat carriers, bedding and kitten food.
The shelter was contacted by the Delaware County Health Department. According to the emergency services, only one elderly resident lived in the house.
Based on agreements between the shelter and Delaware County, the shelter may serve a circuit call. Usually the shelter does not serve Yorktown or the surrounding communities as there is no service contract.
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