Dozens of cats looking for new homes after two recent hoarding cases

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - Dozens of cats and kittens were rescued this past week in two separate hoarding cases in western Massachusetts.

“It’s not unusual for us to respond to requests for help from our partner shelters and organizations when there’s a case where there’s animal hoarding,” said Lee Chambers, spokesperson for the Dakin Humane Society.

Chambers told Western Mass News about the circumstances involving two separate cat hoarding cases, something she called unusual.

“On August 1 and August 5, we responded to two different situations and, between the two cases that we assisted, we brought in more than 40 cats and kittens here to Dakin,” Chambers added.

She said on August 1, they traveled to a one-bedroom apartment in Berkshire County where they found over 80 cats. Several of them were brought back to their shelter in Springfield where they provided medical care to them.

“The thing that’s important to note about these cats is because they came from homes with excessive amounts of cats around them, they’re bound to be very shy and not terribly people centric. They are a great type of pet to adopt if you already have a cat at home,” Chambers explained.

A second rescue on Saturday led to the intake of over 30 cats and kittens in Hampden County.

“Unfortunately, there are cases where situations get out of control and cat populations can get out of control very quickly,” said Lori Swanson, executive director of the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center.

Swanson told us they assisted with the rescue mission in Berkshire County.

“In this case, this was a disaster, so when there’s disasters in our state and we have the expertise. In this case, animal control was able to go in and help in this situation where there were loose cats in an apartment,” Swanson noted.

While many of the kittens and cats get the medical care they need at Dakin, there are several already up for adoption.

“These cats do need to have a new chapter and have a new home to live in and we’re hoping that folks will step up and adopt,” Chambers said.

Many of the cats rescued are available for adoption at the Dakin Humane Society. If you are interested to apply for adoption, you can CLICK HERE.

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