Multiple rescues and vet clinics in the province have pulled together in a community effort to rescue more than three dozen cats from a hoarding situation.

Last Friday, the RCMP conducted a wellness check on a person at a home in Wynyard and located one person deceased while another was transferred to the appropriate healthcare supports. RCMP then called Mozart Animal Sanctuary which reached out to SOS Prairie Rescue who then in turn connected with SCAT Cat Street Rescue and between them, as well as vet clinics in Foam Lake and Saskatoon, care is being rendered to the rescued animals.

A social media post described the situation rescuers faced, “This is one of the worst homes we’ve ever entered. No heat. No daylight. Waste dripping from above. Cats pulled out one by one through tunnels of debris.”

Charrone White is a board member with SCAT Cat Street Rescue and says as of Wednesday morning they had rescued 41 cats. White says part of the process for getting the cats set up for their best life moving forward is grooming.

“The smell is real.  They need help, they’re not used to grooming as a normal house cat would be.  So, getting them cleaned up, we have some long hairs in the mix who have been really matted.  We’ve been able to get some of them shaved down.  The team at the vet clinic in Foam Lake stepped up and brought a whole crew in and did sedated shaving and got them all cleaned up.

White says rescuers were able to catch the first wave of cats quite easily.

“Cause these cats obviously have been shown some love and care in their lives because they were able to just pick them up and get them into carriers right away.”

White says it was one of the worst situations she has participated in but not an isolated incident.  Both SOS and SCAT stressed on their Facebook sites that, “at the centre of situations like the one we responded to are people — people who deserve dignity, compassion, and care. Homes like this don’t exist in isolation, and they are not created by cruelty. They are most often the result of people struggling without access to support, services, or early intervention.”

And the rescuers note that animals are often the first visible sign that something is deeply wrong. They say that is not the cause but the signal.