Animal control officers seize two dozen cats from a Bettendorf home. They were taken from a house in the 13-hundred block of Fairlane Drive. But officers say many of them were not supposed to be there, and are asking the cats' owners to come forward.
Humane Society of Scott County Executive Director Pam Arndt says she got the call Tuesday morning. "We were told there was approximately 17 cats, but when we got there, it turned out there was 28 cats."
All of them are now at the Humane Society, sizing up visitors from inside their cages or reaching out to play. "Most of them seem to be in fairly decent health," Arndt says. "They have fleas. It's not like he was mistreating them." At the same time, they were seized by authorities. Arndt tells us officers were evicting the owner, and asked her staffers to pick up the cats.
She says the concern is that the cats don't belong at the house. The home's owner does not have a legitimate claim to them. "He told us he was picking them up in Iowa and Illinois. So we just wanted to make sure if people had lost their cats, to please come in and take a look, and see if one of these cats might be theirs."
No word on why the homeowner was collecting cats. He disappeared shortly after animal control arrived. But Arndt says, "We will find him... we always find them sooner or later ." For now she says, she just wants to find the families that go with these little guys. "We just want to get them home again." Along with the cats, officers also seized a turtle and a hamster.
If you're missing an animal, Humane Society staffers ask you to come to the shelter to look instead of calling. They tell us with so many cats of similar colors, it can be tough to identify one over the phone. And they say animals that are not claimed in seven days could be adopted out.
