According to a Japan animal welfare organization, they discovered around 170 cats living in filth after their elderly owner hospitalized. The cats were abandoned in the home in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
The organization added that when members visited the property in early September, many of the cats were malnourished. Moreover, the house had windows closed, and the smell of ammonia from feces was strong.
On September 7, a relative of the elderly man notified the Gunma Wan Nyan Network about the cats’ distress, as they had gone days without water despite the high temperature.
The group claims that the owner, a man in his sixties, has been ill since the beginning of August. For your information, the elderly are still hospitalized now after being admitted to the hospital almost a month ago.
Besides that, members of the organization who went to his house discovered several injured newborn kittens.
The group takes more than half of the cats in order to keep them safe. They will spay and neuter the cats in groups. In addition to that, they are also looking for people or groups who can take some of the animals into their homes.
The owner is in the hospital getting better, so the animal welfare group will take care of the cats for free until he gets out and can take care of them again.
“It is difficult (for the group) to cover all the expenses for the surgeries, which cost more than ¥10,000 ($67) per cat,”
—Yukiko Iida, the Gunma group’s president.
Source: Kyodo News