By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR – Efforts to find happy endings and loving homes for dozens of cats taken from a house hopefully will balance a tragic story that came to light last month.
“It’s a sad situation,” Mayor Rick Sollars said after city staff and outreach agencies visited a house in the 7900 block of Harding Street. Neighbors had sought help for a disabled woman and her mentally challenged son who, for about a year, struggled to care for themselves.
The hoarding situation discovered included an estimated 75 cats in the house, living among the scattered debris and in small tunnels throughout the trash and clutter.
A rescue agency has accepted 25 of the cats, and Sollars said the city is seeking other organizations to help aid and relocate the animals.
Sollars said the woman’s husband died last year, and the woman and her adult son struggled to take care of themselves. In late June, neighbors had become more concerned with the odors and unresponsiveness of the residents and contacted city officials.
At first it was believed that less than a dozen cats lived in the house – at least one had been found dead – but further inspections in the days that followed identified dozens of animals. City officials said a single room had contained enough debris to fill a trash bin as crews continued cleaning the house.
The woman and her son were taken to a hospital for treatment and were expected to be transported to an assisted living facility.
Anyone interested in assisting this effort should contact Kimber Dorton at 734-374-1450,
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected])