Waterbury, CT (WFSB) – Chock stuffed with buff and white cats, Halfway Home Rescue has extra than simply hungry mouths to feed.
The rescue’s director, Stephanie Maselli, says every of the 22 felines felt like a ticking time bomb.
“They were covered in their own urine and feces matted to the skin. Fleas or worms loaded with fleas, internal parasites,” she stated.
This is how Maselli says the cats appeared when she picked them up from Waterbury Animal Control on January nineteenth, the day they have been dumped exterior the ability.
The I-Team uncovered surveillance video of a U-Haul pulling up round 7:00 AM, an hour earlier than animal management opened, dropping crates within the snow and pulling away.
Police got here to analyze, and after 9:00 AM, the cats have been lastly lifted out of the snow and into the animal management van.
As for who left them, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo says the police division cracked that case pretty rapidly, tracing the U-Haul to an area girl.
Spagnolo says she was getting evicted from her home, dumping cats that police imagine didn’t actually belong to her.
“She cared for many stray and feral cats in the neighborhood, Feeding them providing them shelter at times when she had to leave she didn’t want to leave the cats completely abandoned. The criteria did not reach the level of a violation of cruelty to animals,” he stated.
No expenses have been filed.
Connecticut’s statute towards cruelty to animals is a protracted paragraph, penalizing pet house owners who fail to offer medical care, meals, and protected, heat environments.
But the legislation as written applies to confined animals, not cats which might be feral.
“The claim is not that they were house cats. The claim Is that they were stray and feral cats that she was caring for. I think we’ve done a very thorough investigation. It just doesn’t rise to the level,” continued Spagnolo.
But Maselli argues that the cats that have been supposedly feral. She believes an animal cruelty cost applies right here as a result of the cats got here to her wanting like they’d been confined and in their very own waste.
“Cats are very clean animals. They can’t stay clean if they don’t have access to a clean litter box. They clearly were living like that for some time,” stated Maselli.
The I-Team obtained the police report for this case and went to the Glenstone street tackle related to the girl.
Talking to a neighbor, he says he did see buff-colored cats wandering across the exterior of the now-vacant duplex, however he wasn’t positive they have been feral.
“She definitely seemed like she was trying to help the cats but maybe went a little overboard trying to help,” he stated.
Channel 3 spoke to one of many renovators whose been engaged on this home since January.
He didn’t wish to go on digital camera, however he did say that in considered one of his preliminary walk throughs of the home, he noticed a number of buff and orange cats and stated the home smelled “like cat pee on steroids.”
The employee did share photos from inside the home from across the time the girl was evicted.
In them, you may see proof cats lived there, with litter pans and crates inside the home.
In Google Earth pictures of the home time-stamped October 2023, you may see a buff-colored cat contained in the home.
But once more, police say she was not the proprietor.
“Well you know they could. Again, it depends on the circumstances,” stated Spagnolo.
In these circumstances, police did examine the girl’s claims that she tried to rehome the cats earlier than dumping them.
Our personal investigation reveals one shelter in Southbury says they bought name within the afternoon of January 18th.
The different shelter offered us cellphone information exhibiting two calls from January nineteenth, coming in two hours after the cats had already been left at animal management.
“It undermines everything that rescues do to make sure that these, you know, the animal cruelty laws are enforced,” stated Maselli.
We tried a number of cellphone numbers listed for this girl and even went to a former tackle, however we couldn’t attain her.
Having racked up hundreds of {dollars} in care, the Waterbury 22 now wants help from the group, as midway home rescue is run by volunteers and survives on donations.
“Yeah, everybody’s headed in the right direction, So, you know, we’ll take that,” continued Maselli.
Advocating for the cats who can’t inform us how they bought so uncared for and why they have been deserted.
“You know, we’re very lucky to live in a place that these laws do exist, but they need to be enforced. Otherwise there’s, you know, they’re kind of a moot point,” she stated.
The cats will quickly be up for adoption in spite of everything their recoveries from spay and neuter surgical procedures are full.
If you wish to observe alongside on their progress or give one a home, CLICK HERE.
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