Pennsylvania SPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officers were busy Wednesday morning removing hundreds of cats from the home of a self-proclaimed "cat lady" in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.
About 260 cats were discovered in an "unsanitary" row home on the 1600 block of Filmore Street. This came after officers found dozens of other felines during an earlier visit to the home.
A sign on the gate of the home reads "I'm the Crazy Cat Lady. And this is the crazy cat house."
SPCA officials arrived at the home around 10 a.m. on Wednesday after they say they received a tip from someone outside of the neighborhood. Officials say the "cat lady" initially cooperated with them and turned over as many as 30 cats during the earlier visit. However, officials say they asked her to surrender more cats after conditions worsened but she refused.
"She declined to continue cooperating with us," said Sara Eremus of the SPCA. "It was a situation where we needed to just go in there and take them."
Workers from the SPCA spent the day at the house removing the cats. The felines that were removed were transported to PSPCA headquarters on Erie Avenue for vet exams, treatment and shelter.
"PSPCA's ultimate goal here is to find the cats good homes once it obtains legal custody of them," according to a press release.
In total, animal officers estimate the woman, who was not immediately identified, kept more than 300 cats in her home.
No charges have been filed at this time. According to the SPCA, the woman was operating a cat rescue but became overwhelmed.
NBC10 did a records search of the home where the cats were found and were directed to the website Animals in Crisis. The website describes itself as a nonprofit organization working to rescue animals and “doing the work the PSPCA should be doing.”
“The number of cats being thrown out far exceeds the number of homes we can find, so we are forced to keep many of them and make them as happy and healthy as possible,” reads a statement on the website. “Due to this large number of cats, we need to expand our facility. We have two full-sizes basements that are completely cleaned out and ready for renovation.”
NBC10’s Deanna Durante called a number listed on the website and spoke to a woman who refused to identify herself. The woman claimed the animals were not being seized from the home on Filmore Street. Instead, she said the owner of the cats had gotten older and was too sick to take care of the animals and therefore called the PSPCA herself.
PSPCA officials told NBC10 that the woman we spoke to was “entitled to her side of the story.”
PSPCA officials say they removed about 260 cats from the home. The animals will be evaluated to determine whether or not they are fit for adoption.
Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.
Photo Credit: NBC10.com - Pete Kane