Volunteer animal rescue groups have been working for over a week at a Beamsville property, ridden with cats both dead and alive.
Last week, there were 70 cats found dead on the site. Since then, 83 more carcasses have been discovered.
Volunteer groups say that in addition to finding 153 dead cats in barrels, under garbage, and laying around, they have also discovered the carcasses of four dead dogs. But there’s a lot of frustration here from the animal rescuers who say the Ontario SPCA and the Humane Society aren’t doing enough to help.
But the Ontario SPCA who are currently investigating animal cruelty on the property says volunteer groups who are saving the animals are impeding the investigation because the cats are evidence and they are being taken away.
OSPCA representative Rachel Vandenkroonenberg explains that “Animals are considered property under our law and that is evidence. Their current condition when being taken from the property is evidence ”
Pam Huson with Beamsville 4 Paw Rescue says they are not trying to hinder an investigation. On the contrary, they have been trying to help by taking photos, keeping records and saving the dead for evidence. But Huson says they couldn’t wait for the OSPCA to act, the cats needed help immediately.
“We have all the evidence of the cats that were in dire need. I’m not going to let the cats die out here”
The OSPCA says they have had an officer on the property every day since December.
Beamsville 4 Paw Rescue and Project Save a Cats Life have been doing shift work on the property. They say they spend about 14 hours there every day for the past week and a half and they haven’t seen an OSPCA officer here in over a week.
The town of Lincoln says they are working with the owner of the property to make sure it gets cleaned up.
Niagara Police say they are not helping the OSPCA in their investigation, but were called to the scene this month to check the welfare of the person living in the home.
The volunteer group collected bags of dead cats that they say were on the site for a week and a half if the OSPCA wanted them for evidence. The stench was so bad that they had to get the cats cremated, which the OSPCA said is a big problem because that’s destruction of evidence.
