A quick update on developments since yesterday: I have spoken with the supervising officer in the Animal Cruelty Task Force and Elle and I will be coordinating with him on getting the rest of the cats. We have an address, thanks to Elle's detective work. I have also received word from Ed Boks, the General Manager of Animal Services, that we will have their full support in coordinating this rescue effort - hopefully this means that the cats can be impounded and all evidentiary protocols followed to ensure a successful prosecution of the hoarders, and that we will be given time to work with the entire rescue community to get all of the animals out. This type of collaboration worked with the Angel Puss cats, and there were more than twice as many that time around. The city attorneys who would be responsible for prosecuting them have also been alerted.

- Ben

And now...introducing the critters!

All 16 cats from what is hopefully the first wave were taken to Kitten Rescue's private shelter the evening of July 18. They were filthy from standing and laying in their urine and feces. The carriers smelled worse than a neanderthal's armpit. (I would know.) A number of them were too scared or feral to give thorough exams to; hopefully they will calm down in the ensuing days. Quite a few of them were severely matted, and many had patches of hair missing - possibly from malnutrition, matting and/or stress-related over-grooming, but also possibly due to mange or ringworm (our personal favorite). Everyone who was examined had ear mites. At least one appears to be pregnant.

One thing that stood out was how thirsty all the cats were. Elle noted this during the time she had them in her apartment on Tuesday afternoon, and they have been drinking water like crazy. I guess there must not have been room for water dishes in those carriers.

So far, everyone has been treated with Revolution. They will all be tested for FeLV and FIV on Friday morning.

For pictures and descriptions of each of the kitties, go here:

http://community.webshots.com/album/552419389tqdyjG

- Ben

Welcome to the "Carrier Hoarder" Cats blog. I am the president of Kitten Rescue, one of the several local animal groups helping out with the rescue of a large group of cats living in squalid conditions in a small apartment. Here is a brief recap for those who are not familiar with the story.

On July 13, a rescuer named Elle, acting on a tip, went to an apartment in North Hollywood to see a couple who had accumulated 47 cats and kittens. They were living in carriers stacked on top of one another. The smell was overpowering. The cats looked ratty, were desperate to get out, and did not have adequate food or water. Elle included some heartbreaking pictures with her email, which I have uploaded here: http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=552370660&security=jcjVDc

Elle broadcast a plea for help to the rescue community. Many of them, including me, told her that she had to go to the recently-formed Animal Cruelty Task Force, as this was clearly a case of animal abuse. Elle contacted the Task Force and officers went with her to the apartment the next day. For reasons which still do not remain clear, the officers did not impound the animals and arrest the hoarders; rather, they gave them three days to address the poor living conditions that the cats were in, and left without doing anything. The hoarders took the opportunity to spirit away as many of the cats as they could in their trailer before Monday, when two different officers from the Task Force returned. These officers confiscated 16 of the remaining 18 cats. Why they chose to leave two behind is again unclear. The fate of the 30 or so cats that the hoarders had stashed is currently unknown, though Elle has some leads and hopefully they will be taken from these people shortly.

After taking the cats, the officers turned them over to Elle and urged her to get them into rescue groups so they wouldn't have to go to the city shelter. Fortunately, because we had some advance notice, we were able to clear out some room at our private, no-kill shelter and create a special receiving room for them, and by the evening all 16 cats were out of Elle's apartment. I will post a separate entry linking to pictures of these cats, and describing the shape they were in.

This rescue effort is ongoing. There are still 30 or so cats in the clutches of these sick people that remain unaccounted for. There is the matter of the Animal Cruelty Task Force failing to do its job and intervene in a timely fashion. Hopefully, this story will have a happy ending - the cats will all be rescued, cared for and placed into homes, and the horrible, sick people who perpetrated this abuse will be prosecuted for what they have done to these poor animals.