53 cats discovered in storage unit in animal hoarding case

FAIRLESS HILLS, PA (WPHL) — In a case of animal hoarding and neglect, 53 cats and kittens were discovered in unsanitary conditions inside a Public Storage unit on Friday, according to the Bucks County SPCA. The animal shelter organization posted on Facebook the following Monday reporting that many of the cats were visibly sick, some seriously ill, but they were treated and all of the cats survived over the weekend.

“They were overcrowded,” Cindy Kelly with Bucks County SPCA told Action News at 10. “There were as many as six in some of those containers. They didn’t have water at the time.”

Officials said that an employee at the storage facility was alerted to the unit by a customer. Public Storage staff immediately called Falls Township Animal Control. The chief humane officer with the Bucks County SPCA also responded to the facility. They removed the cats from the unit and took the animals to the office, providing them with food and water. The animals were then taken to two Bucks County SPCA shelters in Lahaska, Penn. and Quakertown, Penn. to be treated by medical teams. All of the cats are resting and recovering.

“This seems to be a situation more of someone who maybe starts out with good intentions and is going to take care of these cats, but 53 is just too much in any kind of home setting,” Kelly said.

A storage facility employee told Action News at 10 that the owner of the unit said she recently lost her home in a fire and couldn’t bring her cats to her new temporary housing. However, Bucks County SPCA officials said the cats were not well-cared for.

The Bucks County SPCA said none of the cats are microchipped and some of them needed to be neutered.

Pet owners who believe that one of the cats may be theirs, are urged to submit a missing pet report on the SPCA website.