Photos of the catsIthaca (WSYR-TV) - The
SPCA of Tompkins County has seized 17 cats from the apartment of an Ithaca woman they say was hoarding the animals.
Kristen Inman of West Seneca Street has been charged with failure to provide proper sustenance and failure to provide food, drink and wholesome air to a confined animal.
The SPCA says it was contacted by the apartment building manager in mid-September and told that Inman had not been seen for more than a week.
SPCA officers found the cats had no food or water and the apartment had urine, feces, and garbage inside.
All the cats were found to be dehydrated, underweight, severely infested with fleas and ear mites, the SPCA said, and most were not spayed or neutered.
SPCA executive director Jim Bouderau said his shelter was full before these cats were seized and is now overcrowded. Some cats have to be housed in empty dog rooms.
Four of the cats are available for adoption, while 13 more are being held pending the resolution of the case.
Bouderau said, “If members of the public would like to help, we have an urgent need for ‘medical’ foster homes for cats suffering [upper repertory infections] and adoptions of adult cats to reduce the overcrowding that creates stress for the animals which then leads to illness.”
The Dorothy and Roy Park Pet Adoption Center is open for adoptions every day, except Wednesday, from noon to 5:00 p.m. and is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 7:00 p.m. The SPCA Annex at The Shops at Ithaca Mall is open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m
