Twenty cats have been removed from a vacant home at 306 Jackson St., Oconto Falls, where an elderly woman reportedly left a door ajar and allowed the cats to roam freely in and out of the residence.
The Oconto Falls Police Department contacted the Bay Area Humane Society on Nov. 2 after a woman looking for her cat stopped at the home and reported to police the residence was overrun by cats.
“When our officers looked in through the front door, they could see at least two dozen cats, so we knew it would be a big issue,” Oconto Falls Police Chief Brad Olsen said.
The home was condemned Oct. 27 by the city’s building inspector.
According to Olsen, an 81-year-0ld woman resided in the home until about nine months ago and returned to the home every week to provide feed and water for the cats.
“The population exploded there once they were attracted there,” he said.
Olsen said she was aware of the number of cats in the residence but was unsure of how to resolve the problem.
Earlier in the month Oconto Falls police warned the woman not to feed the cats outdoors, but at the time were unaware of the large population of cats in the home, Olsen said.
The woman has agreed to work with the department to remove the cats and has not been cited.
Friday’s count indicated two of the cats caught in live traps were kittens, and the remainder were adults.
Three of the 20 cats are available for adoption at the Bay Area Humane Society, said Lori Nachtwey, marketing and events manager. She said the animal control officers will continue to place live traps at the residence this week.
She said it’s unclear how many cats have been living at the home.
“When they’re able to roam, it’s hard to get an actual count of how many are really there,” she said.
The Bay Area Humane Society is asking other shelters to take some of the cats, once they receive a medical check-up and are treated for fleas, vaccinated, and spayed or neutered. She said the Oconto Area Humane Society has accepted four or five of the cats.
The Green Bay shelter also is picking up another 40 cats from a home in Forest County.
“We actually had two different hoarding situations happening at the same time,” Nachtwey said.
The cats that are less social in temperament will be available through the Barn Buddies program and adopted out to farmers, she said.
To help deal with the onslaught of cats, the shelter is requesting donations of Frontline cat flea preventative or monetary donations. The average cost of intake expenses is $50 to $75 per cat, Nachtwey said.
Olsen said he was uncertain when the woman began feeding the stray cats. He said police and residents living several blocks away from the home have been trapping feral cats over the summer and fall. In a recent incident, a cat and eight kittens were found Oct. 9 under a deck on Poplar Avenue. They were caught in live traps and taken to the Oconto Area Humane Society.
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