More than 100 cats surrendered by Calgary homeowner

The Calgary Humane Society says it is investigating after over 100 cats were surrendered into its care by a Calgary homeowner.

"Our peace officers attended a single residence in Calgary after a concerned citizen came forward, and there were upwards of 100 cats in the home," said Anna-Lee Fitzsimmons, director of public relations for Calgary Humane Society.

• Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

"We weren't entirely sure what we would be walking into, but the team, after several days, was able to safely remove 110 cats from the residence, and so the cats came here to Calgary Humane Society and were triaged on intake for, of course, any immediate medical attention that they might need."

Officials have not released the address of the home, but said it is "one of the largest single intakes of felines in recent years."

Fitzsimmons says many of the cats were healthy, which she says is unusual in animal hoarding cases of this size.

"The good news is that we were able to intervene at a more appropriate time, an earlier time, and the individual that's involved in this case has been incredibly cooperative with our team, with our officers," said Fitzsimmons.

"The cats were quickly surrendered to us, which of course, gives us a lot more ability to get them rehabilitated and re-homed sooner rather than later."

The Humane Society was already under pressure from an over-full facility prior to the surrender of these 100 cats.

Fitzsimmons says having to deal with this many animals from just one person puts a significant strain on the shelter's resources.

Foster families needed

She says the problem could have been averted if the cats had been spayed or neutered before the population in the home exploded.

"Even kittens can have kittens," said Fitzsimmons.

"I don't think people realize that a very young animal can be able to reproduce at younger ages. So especially again, in this home where none of them were spayed and neutered, we're seeing cats under the age of one year becoming pregnant and giving birth to kittens."

As a result, the Humane Society is calling on Calgarians to help out by offering to foster or adopt the animals or donate money to help pay for medical treatment, supplies and care.

"The biggest thing the community can do to help us right now is get involved by becoming a foster parent," said Fitzsimmons.

"We need foster parents, not only for cats but for dogs as well. Anything we can do to get these animals out of the shelter and into a home environment helps them on their pathway to recovery, their pathway to becoming adopted."

The agency says all the animals will be examined, treated and then spayed or neutered. It aims to have all the work done before the Christmas holidays.

More information about the cats, as well as how to support the Calgary Humane Society, can be found online.