In mid-February, OC Animal Care seized 110 cats from the home of 22-year-old Courtney Howe, former president of the Fountain Valley-based no-kill rescue agency Cat Connection Rescue Network (CCRN).
Howe had been pulling felines from various shelters when she heard they were on death row and “didn't know how to say no,” says her friend, Cheryl Zannitto, a volunteer with another Orange County rescue group, Cats In Need, which has been trying to help the situation.
“She meant well,” Zannitto says of Howe. “She believed she was going to save the world and save every cat. She just got in over her head. The cats were not abused. They were neglected, but not abused.” She says the cats, which range from 4 months to a few years old, are very tame and friendly.
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The cats that were considered feral or too ill were euthanized by OC
Animal Care, while many others have been rescued by agencies and
individuals. Nineteen remain, Zannitto says.
Jillianne
Richards, the new president of CCRN, writes on the group's Facebook page: “Almost all those impounded were fixed, chipped and vaccinated. All are
highly adoptable. As a rescuer, this is the nightmare scenario that
every one of us dreads. Let's rally the troops to help make this better.”
Those interested in adopting one of the impounded cats can contact Tammy Osborn at OC Animal Care at (714) 935-6848.
