Dozens of cats were recently found at a hotel in Somerset County, with one local animal rescue group describing the condition they were in as extremely ‘unsanitary and inhumane.’
Rescuers say nearly 100 cats were found in two hotel rooms.
The Pennsylvania Animal Protective Society says it was immediately dispatched to the scene to aid in the safe removal and assessment of the animals.
SPCA officials say all the animals were removed from the premises and transported to multiple local shelters and rescue organizations.
Project Meow, a foster organization in Portage, reportedly took in 35 of the cats that were found.
The organization says they were found in poor condition at the Knights Inn in Somerset.
Chanel Warner, of Project Meow, says that they saw a post on Facebook about the SPCA hoarding situation and were contacted by animal control to help.
Warner says that they deal with a lot of hoarding cases, but this was by far the worst.
She says they showed up two days ago and describes the conditions as awful; stating it was ‘the worst smell you could imagine.’
She says that the cats were very malnourished, had no food or water and were locked in cages for days, covered in feces and urine.
Warner says that they planned on taking in only four of the cats but left with 10 on the first day.
She says that they then realized there were 20 left in the back room, so they drove back and loaded up as many as they could.
Warner says that several other local rescues stepped in to help, including Flood City Kitties, Small Town Cat Rescue and Nicole’s Foster and Adoptions.
She says that Project Meow started with 35 cats but are now down to 18, and they have eight more leaving by the end of the day Thursday.
“We couldn’t leave anybody behind. Some were bleeding on their ears. They had blood all over their chest, very malnourished. We had a few that were locked in cages without food and water for days. And it just broke our hearts. We just had to help and then we had other rescues that stepped up that said they want to take some,” Warner said.
Warner says that they have received $1,400 in donations so far, which will go towards getting 16 of the cats fixed.