County Shelter In Crisis After Seizure Of 320 Neglected Cats

BRANDON, FL — The Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center is sending out an urgent plea to residents to adopt a cat or kitten to help relieve the overcrowded county pet shelter on Falkenburg Road.

The Pet Resource Center was already nearing 100 percent capacity when it seized 320 neglected cats from a Plant City rescue shelter on May 3 and 4.

"Now we're bursting at the seams," said aid Lori Letzring, community services manager. "We're really not equipped for an operation of this scale."

Letzring said the county seized the cats from Fur ‘N Feather Farm, 3704 Bruton Road, Plant City, after finding them starving, dehydrated, sick from parasites and covered with fleas.

It couldn’t come at a worse time for the county’s pet shelter, said Letzring noting that the county is already sheltering 250 cats.

“We are in full kitten season. We have a lot of cats and kittens already here that we need to find homes for,” she said. “Our resources are stretched very, very thin. We can definitely use the public’s help.”

The county has also reached out the ASPCA and other humane animal organizations for assistance, she said.

Last week’s seizure from the Plant City pet shelter is the largest case Hillsborough County animal services has had to handle in a number of years, said Letzring.

“The number of cats and the condition we found them in has been particularly disturbing for our animal care workers,” she said. “PRC animal control officers, veterinarians, vet technicians, volunteers and front office staff have been working tirelessly … to ensure that all the pets are cared for.”

The pet shelter is located on a rural property in Plant City where it is apparently run by one woman, Jean Wilkes-Wood.

Fur ‘N Feather Farm filed as a domestic nonprofit corporation with the state in 2014, according to public records filed with the Florida Department of State.

The Pet Resource Center was tipped off about the condition of the cats by a local veterinary clinic that treated several cats from the pet shelter and was concerned about their emaciated and dehydrated state.

The county launched an investigation and subsequently obtained a search warrant. When animal officers visited the property, Letzring said they found hundreds of cats living in squalid, unsanitary conditions.

"Many are ill with upper-respiratory infections," said Pet Resource veterinarian Dr. Mallory Offner. “They are emaciated, dehydrated and covered in parasites.”

Six cats had upper respiratory infections that were so severe they had to be humanely euthanized, she said.

“This is heartbreaking to see and also overwhelming for our staff because they’ve been working out in Plant City in addition to doing their regular duties,” Letzring said.

The cats seized from Feathers ‘N Fur Farm will not be available for adoption until the case against the pet shelter operator has been litigated.

Letzring said county animal officers are collecting evidence to turn over to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, which will decide whether to pursue criminal charges against the shelter operator.

In addition to the cats, there are more than 100 exotic birds living on the property, she said.

Since the county shelter isn’t equipped to handle birds, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been called in to handle that part of the investigation, Letzring said.

Residents willing to take a cat into their homes can visit the Pet Resource Center at 440 N. Falkenburg Road Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The fee for ready-to-go cat adoptions is $20 and the fee for pre-adoptions is $50.

To see some of the cats available for adoption at the Pet Resource center, visit the center’s website.

For those who can’t adopt a cat but would like to help, the Pet Resource Center is in need of donations of cat food, cat litter, cat toys, towels, beds, scratching posts and other cat-related items.

Image via Pet Resource Center

Dr. Mallory Offner examines a cat seized from the Plant City shelter.

Alonso, a black and white domestic short-haired male cat, is among the cats available for adoption at the Pet Resource Center.

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