Over 60 cats seized from Kitty Kamp in Maryville

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Everyone has been on deck for the past two weeks at the Blount County Animal Center. Animal control officers seized more than 60 cats in a rescue where officials said the cats were living in disgusting conditions.

“It’s very heartbreaking, especially because there are so many,” said Wendy Lemons, the cattery manager at the animal center.

Right now, Lemons and his team are on a mission to keep these cats alive.

“There were quite a few who had a lot of upper respiratory issues,” she said. “We had to use (vitamin) B12, fluids, a lot of them are dehydrated. We ended up putting a few of them in the oxygen chamber to try and help them get better.

Lemons says staff had to create a separate room at the animal center to keep recently rescued cats isolated from those to be adopted. Unfortunately, five of the rescued cats did not survive.

“You don’t want to see an animal in pain, especially if it has (gooey) eyes and it’s having trouble breathing or just lying there. Just lethargic is not OK,” a she declared.

According to Blount County Animal Center Director Charles Rafford, the cats were removed from Kitty Kamp’s rescue at the Alnwick Community Center. He says several people have complained about the strong stench coming from Suite F.

“Apparently she lost her lease,” Rafford said of the suite’s landlord. “She had a month-to-month lease with the building and lost the lease. And we were told about it, so we got involved at that time because she didn’t have a plan for the cats that she had in her rescue.

Rafford describes the scene at Kitty Kamp as very rough and overcrowded with loose cats in a large room.

“I don’t think it was done maliciously,” Rafford said. “I think it was a situation that started with the goal of helping cats find homes and snowballed to the point where there were just too many cats for any one individual to be around. take care of it.”

Rafford reports that the cats were removed from Kitty Kamp’s rescue in mid-January and completed their recovery on January 31. Pickup had to be staggered due to limited space at the animal center. Typically, the capacity for cats at the center is 42, but there are now nearly 90.

“It’s been physically and mentally exhausting for me and the staff,” Lemons said. “Especially the audit staff. It’s financially draining because of the drugs and medications. It takes almost an hour and a half every day to make the medicine just for these cats. We also have to do lime sulfur baths because of ringworm.

“It was a business, a rescue,” Rafford said. “Typically rescues or animal shelters or centers have many animals, so usually when I think of a hoarding situation I think of a person in their home with a large number of animals or a large number of possessions or whatever the case. It was more of a business situation that got out of control.

He added to his knowledge, the director of Kitty Kamp faces no charges.

About Chuck Keeton

Check Also

Humane Society of Scott County waives adoption fees to free up space

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – The Humane Society of Scott County is once again at full …