Were they kidnapped and dumped in the area by someone who doesn’t like cats, or left behind by their owners who didn’t want them any more?
Those are some of the questions being asked by animal lovers after close to two dozen cats were found wandering in the area of the Dickson Dam, southwest of Red Deer, in central Alberta.
James Murphy of Red Deer stopped to take in the view near Dickson Dam last week when he suddenly found himself surrounded by cats.
The animals were first spotted by Jason Murphy of Red Deer, who was just out for a drive last Thursday, when he stopped to take in the view and suddenly found himself surrounded by cats.
“When I got out there was a smaller cat, a Siamese-looking one, right outside my truck and I thought at first maybe it was just one from a farm that ran over here. But then another one came and then I walked back into the trees and found about nine or 10 of them,” said Murphy.
With no food or water on him, Murphy went back to Red Deer to get some, call some local animal shelters for help and upload the short video he took to Facebook.
He raced back to feed the cats — and by the time they were done eating, several other volunteers had shown up to help.
“Before long we had them all gathered up and in the kennel,” said Murphy.
“They were all pretty friendly, so obviously they are domesticated cats — somebody had dumped them out here for some reason.”
The cats were then taken to the Central Alberta Humane Society, where they were given immediate medical attention.
“All the cats were malnourished and dehydrated, lacking necessities, food — several were showing signs of upper respiratory distress, possibly with calicivirus,” said the organization’s executive director, Megan Barrett.
“One was so significantly ill that needed emergency medical treatment for ulcers that were developed in the mouth, which is a sign or a symptom of that virus.
“We also had another cat come in with almost a tennis ball-sized hernia that also ended up going to emerge to have emergency surgery as well.”
One of the rescued cats had a hernia the size of a football that needed immediate surgery to remove.
Central Alberta Humane Society
Several of the society’s staff members, who had already gone home for the day, returned to help care for the cats.
With area residents still keeping an eye on several traps remaining in the area around the Dickson dam — there’s a chance more cats could still be found.
The story of the animals being abandoned has prompted widespread outrage on social media.
When contacted by Global News, Red Deer County bylaw said it’s not illegal to humanely trap cats on your property, but dumping them is.
The Central Alberta Humane Society said all the cats were severely dehydrated and malnourished and in need of immediate medical attention.
Central Alberta Humane Society
The humane society discovered some of the animals were microchipped with the information on the chip traced to the Olds area — a 30-minute drive south — and had been missing for months.
But when contacted by the humane society, the owners didn’t want their cat back — and instead surrendered them.
So far, none of them have been reunited with their families.
With the organization’s shelter already overflowing, taking in so many additional cats has been a huge struggle — both finding space and financially.
“We’ve always got in the building about 80 to 90 kittens or cats, and then always upwards about 35 dogs, and any other sort of domestic animal that needs a home,” said Kelly Richard, the society’s fund development coordinator.
“It’s an ongoing challenge when we just don’t know the condition of animals,” said Richard. “There’s a whole process that the vet team and the RVT (veterinary technologist) team do to analyze and check the status and health of those animals.
“If they need to go to emergency, we take them up to emergency; if it can be done in-house, then we do our best to do all the care we can in-house because that’s the most affordable.”
Richard said the Humane Society does not get any government funding — it relies solely on the generosity of donors to operate.
As such, it has taken to social media, asking for donations to help with the animals’ care — even setting up an Amazon wish list for people who would rather donate things like food or blankets.
With so many cats in need of rescue, and the shelter already overflowing, the humane society is putting out a public plea for financial help to help care for the animals.
Central Alberta Humane Society
So far, she says the response from the community has been “amazing.”
The organization has also been receiving inquiries about adopting some of the cats.
While it is not taking any applications at this time, the society said that once the animals have all fully recovered from their ordeal and have been spayed, neutered and vaccinated, they will be put up for adoption.
