March 24, 2024

"When asked how many cats he had, I think he said it was like counting bubbles in boiling water."

Said a spokeswoman for the British Columbian SPCA, quoted in "Charity steps in to rehome 300 cats from ‘overwhelmed’ man in Canada/Man says he ended up in ‘a crazy situation’ after he began taking in cats abandoned during Covid pandemic" (The Guardian).
Bruce Robinson told the British Columbia SPCA that he had taken in cats that had been abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic.... Robinson estimated that the number of cats in his home had swelled to 298, including 15 pregnant cats that were expected to deliver in the coming days.... [H]e found himself spending thousands of dollars a month – at times going without food himself – to ensure they had the 28kg of food a day they needed and to buy cat litter for their 10 litter boxes. He said he had named each one of the cats. “I love every one of them,” he said. “I wanted to give them a safe home.”... 
“I have never seen so many cats in good condition, they appear to be in good condition,” [the SPCA spokeswoman] said. “And the fact that they’re sociable is incredible. It’s quite shocking, actually.”

32 comments:

Rabel said...

Elephants, raccoons, dogs, cats, horses, Cajuns, what's next?

Howard said...

Alrighty then

gspencer said...

"Charity steps in the rehome 300 cats"

Would have been more welcomed if it had read, "Charity steps in the exterminate 300 cats."

The world has way, way too many cats,

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/magazine/australia-cat-killing.html

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/future-australia-cats-183749778.html

What's been happening in Australia is happening here in the USA.

Bob Boyd said...

Are there no gunny sacks in Canada? Are there no rivers?

Eva Marie said...

One more and it would be an illness.

Wince said...

When asked how many cats he had, I think he said it was like counting bubbles in boiling water.

"Cat, Cat, Cat!"

Yancey Ward said...

Pathological altruism.

TaeJohnDo said...

Wince...no judgment on you here...but...that was hideous...

Kevin said...

Sometimes the Cat Distribution System goes haywire.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

High functioning toxoplasmosis

Freeman Hunt said...

I'm impressed with this guy. It got out of hand, but it's amazing that he was able to take good care of so many animals, and it's nice to read a too-many-animals story that isn't about hoarding and nightmarish conditions.

Mary Beth said...

Ten litter boxes aren't nearly enough for 298 cats. He must have done nothing but clean them all day long.

A lot of people adopted pandemic pets, only to abandon them once things started to normalize. Those people suck. It was nice of this guy to try to do something, but he got carried away. At least he finally realized that he needed help.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Freeman Hunt - agreed.

RAH said...

"Petrological altruism " So right . People used to drown kittens and leave one for the mother to prevent the overpopulation of cats in a household. I have known people who take in stray cats to the extreme. My mother in law would feed feral cats and the flies around her front door were a problem. My sister in law took in strays. She some how thought I knew nothing , even though I had 4 cats myself.
I let my cats go in and out and had them spayed immediately. It is Ok to take in some, but you have to stop. I
It is like the whole world wants to come to America and we have to say no.

Howard said...

That problem can be fixed with 100 gunny sacks, a ton of Rock, a large ball of twine and a decent river.

Narayanan said...

are cats that go feral unable to fend ?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

ah Howard - The Biden Family, the ladies on the Putin-View, and fat Cenk could just *KISS* you for your comment at 4:34.
Asshole.

Kate said...

I recently trapped the neighborhood feral who was yowling all night and spraying all day. My good deed, I thought, getting him fixed. Now he visits my porch and, to my horror, I've started feeding him. The slippery slope is easy and smooth. No judgment.

Meade said...

From Cleveland Clinic.org:

Does toxoplasmosis ever go away?

Because of the cysts left behind by T. gondii, toxoplasmosis may never be fully cured. Medication can treat an active infection, but it doesn’t destroy the cysts.

If you have a healthy immune system, the cysts shouldn’t reactivate. But if you have a weakened immune system or if you have congenital toxoplasmosis, the parasite can reactivate and make you sick in the future.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

If you don't want toxoplasmosis -

1) don't touch cat turds.
2) if you think you may have touched a cat turd - wash your hands.
Follow 1 and 2, & you will stay free of toxoplasmosis.

Humperdink said...

I had a potential tenant who begged me to let her bring her beloved cat into our cottage nearby. I relented. Unbeknownst to us, she was a "closet" cat lady. 22 cats later I gave her the boot. After we started the cleanup, we discovered that fleas had overwhelmed the place - first and and second floors. Fleas everywhere. Exterminator was called and he treated the place. Per his instructions, flea eggs are resistant to the treatment so we had vacuum the entire place twice per day for 14 days. And then burn the vac bags after each use to destroy the eggs. What fun!

Yancey Ward said...

"That problem can be fixed with 100 gunny sacks, a ton of Rock, a large ball of twine and a decent river."

You will have a hard time getting the senators to fit in the bag.

Yancey Ward said...

Oops.....wrong thread.

Eva Marie said...

Howard said...
“That problem can be fixed with . . .”
I have a friend who grew up on a ranch in Wyoming. They kept around 100 barn cats. When the numbers got significantly higher, his dad would get his rifle and shoot cats until the number came down to his satisfaction. As little kids he and his sister had the idea to take one of the cats, put it in a box and put it in the river. They thought the cat would fall asleep and die peacefully, spared the fear of running from rifle shots. When they came back and opened the box they realized what a horrible struggle and death the poor cat experienced.

Joe Smith said...

Sounds like mental illness but at least his heart is in the right place...

traditionalguy said...

Cat lovers understand. They’re family.

gadfly said...

Kate said...
I recently trapped the neighborhood feral who was yowling all night and spraying all day. My good deed, I thought, getting him fixed. Now he visits my porch and, to my horror, I've started feeding him. The slippery slope is easy and smooth. No judgment.

Oh yeah! Perhaps 10-12 years ago, someone dumped a black and white male kitten and a fuzzy black and brown female and we began feeding them. Oreo got grabbed by Animal Control and they returned him fixed but Rusty found a boyfriend named Tuxedo and she did two to three litters per year.

Six years ago, the ASPCA paid a visit and offered up the Community Cat Program. They gave away 5 new kittens and trapped 14 of 16 additional felines, fixed them, and returned them to my front yard. Remaining are two sets of cats - four on the front porch and five on the back porch - that don't intermingle and new cats who wander by are not welcomed. And BTW, feeding nine cats ain't for cheap.

Enigma said...

This story isn't about cats. It's about the severely degraded reasoning of the COVID era. Otherwise sane people lost all sense of proportion. In contrast, crazy cat ladies and hoarders are long-term, lifelong crazy. Instead of buying food and maintaining litterboxes they starve their cats, let the house get really dirty, etc.

This degraded cat guy behaved the same as every COVID-era mask-demanding and vax-happy autocrat. Howard Stern's id let loose. Neil Young's paranoia set free. The cat story could be about Biden, the CDC, China, Australia, Austria, New York, California, and every blue state school in the country.

Interested Bystander said...

I'd be afraid 300 cats would attack me in my sleep and have me for breakfast. Geez can you imagine how that guy's house must have smelled?

SoLastMillennium said...

"Kate said...
And BTW, feeding nine cats ain't for cheap."

Put up a Bird Feeder. Problem solved. :)

SoLastMillennium said...

"Kate said...
And BTW, feeding nine cats ain't for cheap."

Put up a Bird Feeder. Problem solved. :)

Rusty said...

Coyotes like cats. A lot. Too bad there isn't a Chinese resturant in the neighborhood. That's some fine dinin'.