House of 57

He started out rescuing cats from the streets. His original purpose was to trap the stray cats, have them spayed or neutered and returned them to the location they were first found. His plan, like that of many animal hoarders, quickly went awry.

As the number of cats kept rising, Jack soon found out that he could not afford to keep up with the mounting vet bills. Financially, he was unable to spay and neuter so many cats, therefore, he was unable to release them. Soon, his 1200 sq. ft. house was overrun with cats that were mostly unsocial and suffered from upper respiratory infections. The cats kept getting sick and he could not keep up with the cleaning. Before long, his residence was nearly unlivable.

Finally, in mid December 2006, Jack reached out to Suncoast Animal League for help. On December 22, 2006, we approached his New Port Richey house with some idea of what to expect, but we were not fully prepared for what we found. Some 15 feet from the front door, we were met with a horrible ammonia smell. The front of the house was hidden with overgrown shrubbery and the windows were covered with cardboard, all typical signs of an animal hoarder.

When we entered the house, cats ran for cover. They went under the deteriorating furniture, into cupboards, behind the refrigerator, any place to hide. We had no idea how many cats were in the house. Two hours later, our eyes watered and our throats were sore, but the job was done. We had caught 57 cats, in total.

Most of the cats were sick and would spend weeks recovering. That night we sent 22 to the animal emergency hospital. Many of the cats took months before they were healthy and socialized enough to be placed for adoption.

Jack was not a bad person. He never intended to harm the cats. In fact, we believe he cared for the cats a great deal. During the first couple of months after the rescue he called several times to ask about the welfare of "Alice", "Chuck", "Milo", "Jellybean", "Angel", "Sunshine" and all the others. He had given each one a name. So yes, we believe he cared, but had long before lost control of the situation and became an animal hoarder.

We are thankful Jack called for help. Unfortunately, most do not.

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