Clinics, volunteers join forces to save cats

TEXAS CITY — Cages with cats lined the hallways and the multipurpose room Wednesday at the Galveston County Animal Resource Center.

Volunteers and employees of the resource center hurried up and down the halls carrying food and supplies while others prepared cages and fed cats.

The center was caring for most of the 168 live cats seized Tuesday from Whiskerville Animal Sanctuary. Animal control officers responded to complaints the cats were being neglected, and 27 cats were found dead, said Kurt Koopmann, a spokesman for the Galveston County Health District.

Of the 168 live cats, some have been sent to local veterinary clinics for treatment, 36 have gone to the Galveston Island Humane Society shelter and 40 more will go to the Houston Humane Society, Koopmann said.

“The majority that we received were just very malnourished and thin and the majority also had pretty significant upper respiratory infections,” veterinarian Scott Johnson said.

His clinic, Scott Veterinary Clinic, received 11 cats, Johnson said. In his opinion, Johnson said the cats looked as if they had been without food for longer than a week.

Assessing The Need

For now, the needs and condition of the cats at the county center are being assessed, said Kim Schoolcraft, animal services manager for the county.

Schoolcraft helped bring the cats out of the Whiskerville shelter Tuesday and said the smell of ammonia in the building was almost overpowering.

“It was almost impossible to breath in there,” she said. “There was feces coating everything, deep in places. It was pretty horrible.”

The cats had a general smell of feces and urine when first brought to the center, she said. Now, the cats need to be tested for things such as feline leukemia and FIV, a retrovirus similar to HIV in humans, and most need to be treated for internal parasites, ear mites, ring worm, skin problems and general neglect, Schoolcraft said.

That all takes time and resources, but Schoolcraft said there has been a great response from the community. There were around 15 volunteers at the shelter Wednesday, the Galveston Island Humane Society sent two employees to help, the League City animal shelter sent cages and supplies, she said.

The Galveston County Food Bank donated $10,000 worth of cat food and supplies, and the center was getting lots of donations from the community, Schoolcraft said.

The lobby was piled high with donated food, cat litter, boxes and cleaning supplies.

“We’ve had offers of people and supplies from all the other area shelters and rescue groups, everybody’s coming together,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing.”

Rhonda Trujilla-Lambert was delivering supplies Wednesday afternoon and said she was horribly saddened by what happened.

“I’m hopping that they will be able to find homes for these animals,” she said.

Investigation Ongoing, Police Say

Most of the 200 cats kept at the Whiskerville Sanctuary roamed free in a 1,700-square-foot building with six separate rooms or a separate 800 square foot room, the shelter’s owner, Wydell Dixon said.

She had no idea the condition the cats were in, she said. An employee, Kim Paskert, was supposed to be taking care of the cats, Dixon said.

Paskert said the last time she had been to the shelter was Wednesday of last week. A volunteer asked her last week if she could take over the daily feeding and care duties, Paskert said.

“I trusted somebody, and apparently I shouldn’t have trusted them,” Paskert said.

Dixon said she has released all the food and supplies kept at Whiskerville for the county to use. The Texas City Police still are investigating the charges of negligence and cruelty, said Texas City police Capt. Brian Goetschius. No charges or arrests had been made, he said.

Starting Over

“Right now, what we are trying to focus on is getting (the cats) stable,” Dixon said.

She would like to have the cats back at some point, but she did not know if that would be possible, Dixon said.

“In order to do that, we would have to go in and clean that place from top to bottom if I am even allowed to have them back,” Dixon said.

The cats at the county animal resource center cannot be adopted out until a court decides what needs to be done with them, said Schoolcraft. The shelter is doing all it can to make space for the new arrivals and some cats and dogs have been moved to other area shelters, she said.

Animal control centers get a lot of criticism from people who think that when large numbers of animals are seized, other animals in the facility have to be euthanized to make space, she said. “My goal has always been that we don’t euthanize any animal because we brought more animals in,” Schoolcraft said.

While the cats from Whiskerville cannot be adopted, adopting other cats and dogs at the center would be helpful, Schoolcraft said.

“Anything that will free up staff time to concentrate on these animals,” Schoolcraft said.

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How To Help

The shelter has enough cat food at the moment but still needs cat litter, boxes and cleaning supplies as well as monetary donations, said Kim Schoolcraft, animal services manager for the county.

Donations can be sent to 3412 Loop 197 North Texas City, TX 77590