More than 30 cats found at home of woman who recently died

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (WXIX/Gray News) - An Indiana animal shelter is asking for help after it recovered more than 30 cats from the home of a woman who died recently.

PAWS of Dearborn County said the number of cats has continued to grow because they were rescued since some of the cats were pregnant and have since given birth.

Shelter director Brenda Wagel said their staff has been swamped.

“We are up to 38 cats now, and we still have more to we have to get,” Wagel said.

She said the shelter had visited the woman several times and tried to help her with her increasing number of cats, but she refused the help.

“We tried to work with the lady,” Wagel said. “Obviously, she didn’t want us to take any of her cats. We went out with different organizations but nothing was ever done about it.”

The woman was living in her car because conditions inside the home were so bad. Wagel said it was one of the most extreme hoarding cases she’s seen.

“If you see how they lived, it’s just horrible. Some look like little kittens but they’re actually really old,” Wagel said.

She said the shelter has had six cats give birth so far in a week since they began recovering cats from the home.

The shelter said some cats would be ready for adoption by the end of the week. She said some of the cats are more feral and would be more suited as barn cats.

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