69 cats rescued from N.Y. woman's home

A Greenburgh, N.Y., cat hoarding situation has sparked an adoption emergency after town officials condemned a woman's house and rescuers removed 69 felines.

Officials from the New Rochelle Humane Society and Greenburgh visited the trash-strewn house last Friday to evaluate conditions, but they found the situation in the house so bad that they removed all the cats.

"I can't even begin to express how sad the living conditions were for these cats. They literally were prisoners in these little carriers. There were cats living in (cat) traps for years," said Dana Rocco, shelter manager at the New Rochelle Humane Society.

Both the woman who kept the cats and her mother declined to comment on their situation Wednesday.

On Wednesday, trash still covered the front and back of the empty house and there was a condemnation notice dated May 15 on the front door.

Cat traps sat in the house's backyard to capture feral cats that might have been fed by the home's residents.

Rocco said the woman began rescuing cats about eight years ago.

"This is typically where hoarders get into trouble. One turned into five turned into 10 turned into 20. She got way over her head and couldn't care for her house or her cats," Rocco said.

The society said it needs people to adopt the rescued cats and donate money for their treatment.

Most are in relatively good condition, though Rocco said one cat needs to have its leg amputated due to an earlier injury and another had a skin infection.