Over two dozen cats are now in the care of the Saskatoon SPCA after they were seized from a North Battleford home Feb. 15.
About 25 cats were rescued from the west-side residence after North Battleford special constables received a report of unhealthy conditions there.
"That's a lot of cats," noted special constable Ross MacAngus, who was part of the team that executed a search warrant on the premises. Charges are now pending against the homeowner and it is expected the SPCA will be laying the charges.
The special constables were alerted about the cats in the spring of 2011, at which time they alerted the SPCA.
The SPCA were finally able to obtain a search warrant against the property. Two RCMP members, two from the SPCA and two from the Ministry of Health, along with MacAngus, conducted the search at the residence last week and rescued the cats.
There was concern about the health of the cats inside the residence, and MacAngus noted some of the cats were pregnant. Had they waited any longer there might have been many kittens on the premises. Fortunately, there were "no kittens, so that's a plus," he said.
The living conditions were a big issue as there was cat urine and feces permeating the premises, MacAngus noted. "The living conditions were not the greatest in the house, let me put it that way," he said.
"It was a very unhealthy situation for the animals as well as the homeowner in this situation."
Despite that, he said the rescued cats seem in reasonably good health and do not appear to have suffered from starvation.
In the wake of the discovery, the City is reminding residents that no more than five animals are allowed in a household and all pets must be licensed under the Animal Protection Bylaw. The incident has also highlighted the need to look after domestic animals and to make sure they are spayed and neutered.
