Animal Rights Group Seeks Justice For Cats From Monterey Breeder

MONTEREY, CA — A San Rafael-based animal rights organization is seeking justice for dozens of purebred cats who were the victim of a kitten mill located in southern Monterey County where 43 Scottish Fold cats were found last month.

The organization, In Defense of Animals, said in a news release that a Saturday deadline is quickly looming for the owner of the breeding service to pick up cats after they were in taken in by The Society to Prevent Cruelty To Animals in late September.

The group is calling for stiffer legal stipulations to be placed on the breeder, who, according to the news release, had 31 cats and dogs taken from their facility last month by SPCA officials. But the group said that local residents around the facility claimed that there were 43 animals located at the breeding center.

A concerned resident and a Monterey County Sheriff's deputy found three deceased kittens in litter boxes and 40 live cats, many starving and emaciated, living in cages filled with feces, the organization said in the news release. Many cats appeared to be unsocialized and scared. There were at least two litters of kittens and some senior cats living in cages with matted fur and infected eyes. A mother was separated from her tiny kittens, and she rushed to be with her kittens as soon as she was liberated.

According to the organization, the owner of the breeding facility had been recently hospitalized. However, the breeder had been cited in the past for failure to provide proper care to the animals in their care.

With a deadline set for Saturday for pickup of the cats taken in by SPCA officials, the local organization is pushing for the owner of breeding facility not to be able to take the cats back and that the breeder is forced to adhere to stricter guidelines for running the facility. The group is also working to get the cats into a proper care center where they can return to health or be adopted out to loving homes, the group said.

"After this tragic case of neglect and cruelty, we hope everyone starts rescuing and stops buying animals," said Lisa Levinson, the campaigns director for In Defense of Animals said in the news release. "Even when breeders are registered with professional associations, it provides no protection or proof of compassionate or cruelty-free lives for the animals who suffer in silence behind closed doors. Purchasing animals supports the proliferation of kitten and puppy mills, where the bred animals are forced to live lonely lives in cages and runs, often without proper care."